More than 1,000 healthcare workers in the Philippines have been infected by the coronavirus, with 26 of them dying from the disease, the health department said yesterday.
The 1,062 healthcare workers account for 16% of the total number of infected people in the Philippines, which stood at 6,710 as of yesterday, said Health Undersecretary Maria Rose Vergeire.
The figure is the highest in Asia, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), which noted that the average infection rate in the region was 2 to 3%.
Most of the infected healthcare workers in the Philippines, or 422, were doctors, followed by 386 nurses, Vergeire said. The others were medical technologists, radiologists, nursing assistants and administrative staff in hospitals and clinics.
The Department of Health said it was working closely with the WHO to investigate if healthcare facilities were following guidelines on infection control to protect their workers.
“We are ready to provide support to our frontliners who have been sacrificing in this fight against Covid-19 every day,” Vergeire said. The department also reported that the death toll from Covid-19 in the Philippines rose to 446, with nine additional deaths, while 693 patients have recovered.
Of the 26 healthcare workers who have died from the virus, 19 were doctors, Vergeire said.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte was expected to decide within the week on whether a lockdown on the most populous island of Luzon would be extended, lifted or eased after April 30.