Samar town seeks nat’l gov’t help as 16 of its health personnel have COVID-19

TACLOBAN CITY—A municipality in Samar appealed for help from the national government after at least 16 of its health personnel were isolated when they tested positive for COVID-19.

Mayor Renato Cabael of Motiong town said only a nurse and midwife were left to man the operations.

He said he had written a letter to the Department of Health (DOH) addressed to regional director Exuperia Sabalberino to seek the deployment of more healthcare workers and the delivery of more vaccines.

Cabael said the rural health unit is temporarily closed for disinfection and contact tracing.

“Our situation is heavily impacting our vaccination campaign as, right now, we have only one nurse and a midwife,” he said.

“But we are thankful to our nearby municipalities who have provided us with their medical personnel. Our MHO (in officer-in-charge capacity) is from Hinabangan town,” he added.

He, however, said they could not rely on these health workers from their neighboring towns, considering that they are also busy with their vaccination campaign.

Cabael said they would resume their vaccination drive on July 8 and 9.

So far, the town had inoculated 689 people, which is way behind its target of at least 12,000 individuals to achieve herd immunity.

The town has 20 active cases, most of which are medical workers or frontliners.

LZB