Some 50 medical workers from Cebu were sent to the National Capital Region today, April 7, 2021, to help attend to COVID-19 patients there. | CDND Photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines – Local and national government officials are targeting to send a total of 100 health workers from Visayas to the country’s capital to help address the spike of COVID-19 there.
On Wednesday, April 7, at least 50 medical frontliners from the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC) and the Department of Health in Central Visayas (DOH-7) were flown to Metro Manila.
They are composed of 11 doctors, 35 nurses, and four medical technologists.
A ceremonial send-off was also conducted at Montebello Villa Hotel in Brgy. Banilad, Cebu City on Wednesday before their departure.
The initiative to augment the medical manpower of the National Capital Region (NCR) was from the Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas (OPAV), Cebu’s Project Balik Buhay (PBB), DOH-7, and local governments of Cebu.
Sec. Michael Dino, OPAV head, said they are aiming to deploy at least 100 health workers from all regions in the Visayas to Metro Manila, and they will be staying there for three months.
They will be assigned in public hospitals such as the National Kidney Transplant Institute, Jose Reyes Memorial Medical Center, Lung Center of the Philippines, Rizal Medical Center, and Tondo Medical Center said Dino.
“Don’t expect it’s going to be a bed of roses. It is going to be a war. It’s going to be a difficult three months but I know you’re ready,” he said in his speech.
The first batch of frontline workers sent last Wednesday is also expected to receive a total of P70,000 in cash incentives from OPAV, the Cebu Provincial Government, and Cebu City Government.
Based on DOH-7’s data Cebu City alone has a total of 30,233 licensed and practicing healthcare workers.
The regional health office reported that NCR needed around 100 to 200 additional nurses alone to help decongest hospitals in Metro Manila. /rcg