MANILA, Philippines — Senator Imee Marcos said Monday the government must first deal with the imminent spike in Covid-19 cases as the scheduled fiestas in some parts of the country for January and February are forthcoming.
According to Marcos, after the Black Nazarene Traslacion commemoration last Saturday, the observance of social distancing will also be tested further by more crowd-drawing fiestas in coming days such as the Ati-Atihan in Aklan, the Dinagyang in Iloilo, as well as the Panagbenga in Baguio.
“Mass vaccination is still months away and EUAs (emergency use approvals) are still pending. The first order of battle should be to prevent a runaway infection rate due to forthcoming fiestas and reduced hospital capacities amid staffing changes taking place in January,” Marcos said in a statement.
Citing the Department of Health (DOH), Marcos said healthcare capacities would be compromised by staffing changes, end-of-contract breaks, and a possible non-renewal of job orders in hospitals.
“Let’s start recruiting additional doctors, nurses, and medical volunteers to reinforce health care capacities, in lieu of a medical reserve corps that remains unrealized,” Marcos said.
Marcos had pushed for creating a medical reserve corps in June last year through Senate Bill 1592. – Zac Sarao, trainee