COVID-19 rising among hospital staff, mostly asymptomatic — EOC
Some of the medical frontliners and emergency responders of Lapu-Lapu City. (Contributed Photo/ Mayor Junard Chan)
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Hospitals are feeling the brunt of the ongoing COVID-19 surge in Cebu City not because of a spike in admissions, but rather due to their staff getting infected.
Councilor Joel Garganera, the deputy chief implementor of the EOC, said that at least 316 medical frontliners assigned in hospitals in Metro Cebu who are also Cebu City residents proved positive to the virus in the last 14 days.
“Karon lang adlawa sa atong records aduna natay mga 316 ka medical frontliners sa Metro Cebu nga nagka COVID, though puro asymptomatic o mild kay silang tanan bakunado naman apan gi isolate sad ni sila so makabalda gyud sa operation. Ug unsay nahitabo sa tambalanan mao sad sa uban nga mga establishment,” said the councilor.
The medical staff who got positive are automatically placed under isolation as hospitals have their own isolation facility. They will be released after their isolation period is over.
Garganera said that if the hospitals are already feeling the surge of cases through their staff getting infected, this could be happening in other workplaces as well from other industries.
“Ug unsay nahitabo sa tambalanan mao sad sa uban nga mga establishment. Kinahanglan gyud ta magmatngon unya tuman sa pag sul-ob ug insakto sa atong facemask, limpyo kanunay sa atong kamot, lihay aning mga pundok pundok ug labaw na magpa bakuna gyud.”
“Pinakataas na karon atong positivity rate at 56.62%, kinahanglan magtibangay ta nga mahinay man lang ang pagsaka aron dili intawn ma paralyze ang operation sa atong nga vital nga mga institution o establishments sama sa hospital, bangko, supermarkets,” said the councilor.
On January 21, 2022, the city recorded 902 new cases raising its active cases to 6,292. The daily positivity rate is at an all-time high of 56.6 percent with 902 out of 1,593 individuals proving positive to the virus on Friday.
The city government is in the process of opening more isolation facilities for residents whose homes are not fit for home isolation, although home isolation remains to be the general rule now.
The EOC once again appeals to the public to follow the minimum public health protocols even if they are vaccinated as the Omicron variant is spreading fast in Metro Cebu. /rcg
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