The national tally has already breached the 12,000 mark.
Authorities had attributed the drop in numbers of infected medical personnel to the distribution of sufficient personal protective equipment to health facilities. National Task Force on COVID-19 response chief implementer Carlito Galvez, Jr. on Thursday said the country’s supply of PPE has stabilized with more deliveries expected to arrive next week.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 15) — Eighty more healthcare workers have caught the coronavirus disease, the Department of Health reported on Friday, bringing the total infected frontliners to 2,245.
From the new count, 1,431 cases are active or are currently experiencing the illness, including 398 who are not exhibiting symptoms, five severe cases, and one who is in critical condition.
The DOH said 812 nurses, 660 doctors, 137 nursing assistants, 81 medical technologists, 42 radiologic technologists and 260 from other professions tested positive for COVID-19. The current number of cases means 19 percent of the country’s total — or one in every five cases — is a health worker.
The total number of recoveries among medical personnel has also risen to 779 with 42 additional survivors, while the death toll is still at 35.
The department reiterated that the number of new cases among healthworkers has continued to go down since April 11.
Earlier, the World Health Organization said it was alarmed by the country’s rate of infection among health personnel, back when it was still at 13 percent, which it said was possibly due to lack of enough PPE sets.
