Healthcare workers with Covid-19 top 2K; recoveries rise to 643

FILE: Quezon City sanitation front-liners manning the temporary shelters at the Quezon Memorial Circle put on their personal protective equipment on Tuesday (April 7, 2020). (PNA photo by Robert Oswald P. Alfiler)

MANILA – The total number of confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) cases among healthcare workers in the country has reached 2,067, with 76 more persons contracting the disease, a Department of Health (DOH) official said on Tuesday.

“Of the total number, 1,389 are active cases. We’re sad to report that we have recorded one death due to Covid-19 among our healthcare workers yesterday. The total number of deaths among our healthcare workers is 35,” Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said in a mix of English and Filipino.

Meanwhile, the total number of healthcare workers who recovered from the disease rose to 643.

As of May 11, the DOH reported that the total number of nurses infected with Covid-19 is 759, with 631 doctors or physicians, 129 nursing assistants, 72 medical technologists, and 39 radiologic technologists.

Vergeire noted that the number of healthcare workers infected with Covid-19 started to drop on April 11.

While the risk of contracting the disease is high among healthcare workers, Philippine Nurses Association Inc. national president, Dr. Rosie de Leon, said nurses are motivated to perform their jobs when “they are able to ensure the public health and safety”.

“Kapag nakikita mo nag-iimprove na ang ating bansa, lahat po kaming mga (As we see the country’s situation is improving, all of us) nurses are motivated to continue fighting,” de Leon said.

She added that nurses perform holistic roles, which include physiological care and the creation of an environment conducive for healing and recovery.

Nurses, she said, help patients with Covid- 19 beat the disease and overcome depression during their treatment.