MANILA, Philippines — A total of 6,595 healthcare workers in Metro Manila are under quarantine due to COVID-19, an official of the Department of Health (DOH) said Tuesday.
This comprises 7.2% of the 91,838 health workers in Metro Manila, Health Undersecretary Leopoldo Vega said.
With the number of frontliners under quarantine, hospitals are forced to close down other services to redeploy their personnel to address COVID-19 needs.
“Nakikita natin na nagko-close ‘yung some services like elective surgeries and the rest like diagnostics para lang maka-cover ngayon sa mga healthcare workers na naka-isolate at naka-quarantine,” Vega said in a Palace briefing.
(We are seeing that some hospitals are closing down services like elective surgeries and diagnostics to cover health workers who are in isolation and under quarantine.)
Other health workers are also redeployed in other areas to fill up needed manpower in COVID-19 facilities, he added.
The Philippines currently has 157,526 active COVID-19 cases as the country experiences another surge of infections after the holidays.