Binays orders probe of nurse’s discrimination

MANILA, Philippines — Makati Mayor Abby Binay yesterday ordered an investigation on the alleged discrimination against a nurse who was kicked out of her boarding house after testing positive for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

The female nurse, who works as a customer representative for a health insurance firm, was reportedly denied assistance by the health center of Barangay Olympia last week.

“Mayor Binay wants the incident investigated,” Michael Camiña, her spokesman, said.

The nurse was evicted from her boarding house by her landlady after she contracted COVID-19.

She was rescued by the Philippine Red Cross after she was seen sitting on a gutter along J. P. Rizal street and brought to a quarantine facility at the Quezon Institute.

Makati has approved an ordinance, which prohibits discrimination against COVID-19 patients and medical frontliners.

Camiña said violators would be fined P5,000 and penalized with up to one year in prison.

He said the city government has quarantine facilities where COVID-19 patients should be isolated.