More and more healthcare workers around the country are infected with Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) as they act as frontliners in the fight against the deadly disease.
In the latest virtual presser of the Department of Health on Monday, Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire reported that there 1,245 health workers around the country infected with COVID-19. That’s around 16 percent of the total 7,777 confirmed cases, 144 more than the previous count on Saturday.
Out of the figure, 471 are nurses, 464 are doctors, 69 are nursing assistants, 41 are medical technologists, 25 are radiologic technologists, and 10 are midwives.
DOH added that 27 of these health workers have already died; 21 were doctors and the rest were nurses.
Last week, World Health Organization (WHO) said that the high rate of infection among health workers in the country is ‘worrisome’.
Dr. Abdi Mahamud, the WHO-Western Pacific region COVID-19 incident manager, said that the rate in the Philippines is at least four times more than the average in other countries.
“In our region, overall it is around 2 to 3 percent where countries like South Korea, Australia and Japan have low percentages,” Mahamud said, in an interview over GMA7’s 24 Oras.
As of April 27, DOH reported a total 7,777 cases of COVID-19 in the Philippines. Total recoveries is at 932, and deaths at 511.