Infection surge taking toll on health frontliners

MANILA, Philippines — The Filipino Nurses United (FNU) yesterday expressed “extreme alarm” over the soaring cases of COVID-19, saying two of their colleagues have succumbed to the virus in the line of duty.

“We are extremely alarmed at the increasing number of nurses, doctors and other health workers especially those in the frontlines being infected by COVID-19,” said FNU president Maristela Abenojar.

She noted that a total of 5,355 nurses are infected with the virus, which is 36 percent of the 14,963 infected cases of health workers, citing data from the Department of Health as of March 6.

“FNU regrets and deeply mourns the passing of a colleague (last Friday) who reportedly succumbed to COVID-19 while employed at Philippine Heart Center, at the same time that another health worker employed at National Kidney and Transplant Institute suffered the same fate,” she added.

Abenojar underscored the two cases “somehow manifest the weakness in the COVID response that has contributed to the untimely death of health workers even a year into this pandemic.”

“We are undeniably facing a heightened public health disaster which the government has declared as a national state of calamity,” she maintained.