Deployment of medical personnel from other provinces to COVID-19 hotspots pushed
MANILA, Philippines — Cavite Governor Jonvic Remulla on Monday appealed to local governments and the Department of Health (DOH) to transfer medical professionals from their respective jurisdictions to COVID-19 hotspots.
Remulla’s proposal came after President Rodrigo Duterte heeded the plea of medical professionals to reimpose modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) in Metro Manila, Bulacan, Laguna, Cavite and Rizal from August 4 to 18.
Medical frontliners earlier called for a “time out” and the return of stricter lockdown measures in Metro Manila as cases of COVID-19 continue to rise.
“What we need really is a country-wide approach on how to solve this. I am sure that there are other places that are not under ECQ, MECQ, that have nurses and doctors that they can spare to give relief to the doctors we have here,” Remulla said in an interview on ANC.
“I appeal to the other governors and to the DOH to collectively get all the available nurses and doctors that can help here in Metro Manila in order to man the stations that we have,” he added.
Remulla stressed that most of the country’s cases are from Laguna, Cavite, Rizal, Bulacan and Metro Manila, hence addressing COVID-19 in these areas may suppress the spread of the disease.
“What I think also, as much as the doctors want to come up with their own plan of action on how to solve this, they must also come together and get the doctors from other places in the Philippines and have them come here to the critical centers and help us,” Remulla said.
“The more we solve it here in NCR [National Capital Region] and the neighboring greater Manila, the less they will have a chance that it will spread in their province. So this is ground zero,” he went on.
Cavite has so far recorded 1,777 COVID-19 cases, Remulla said.
Nationwide, 103,185 COVID-19 cases have so far been recorded, with 2,059 deaths and 65,557 recoveries.
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