By Charissa Luci-Atienza
Cebu City 2nd district Rep. Rodrigo Abellanosa is calling on the Department of Health (DOH) to address the shortage of health workers, ambulances, and medical supplies in the city.
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He said the DOH should immediately step up and resolve the increasing number of COVID-19 cases, the depleting number of medical workers, and scarce medical supplies in the city, particularly in areas with high COVID-19 cases.
"Medical personnel, ambulances, equipment, and supplies are running very low. I hope Secretary (Francisco) Duque (III) can have these addressed immediately," he said in a text message.
Abellanosa echoed the concern of the Cebu Medical Society that the city's health system is "exhausted and overwhelmed," leaving many patients untreated.
"With the daily unabated number of positive cases in Cebu City, the local health care system naturally breaks down. People are dying even before they could get admitted and tested," he said.
"The DOH should bring in more health workers now," he added.
While there are existing quarantine facilities in Cebu City, he said there is a need to pass a measure seeking the creation of regional quarantine facilities.
He rallied behind the passage of House Bill No. 7005, the proposed "Mandatory Quarantine Facilities Act of 2020, principally authored by Deputy Speaker and Camarines Sur 2nd district Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte Jr.
"We badly need these facilities. We are yet to see the light at the end of the tunnel in the darkness of this pandemic. This pandemic continues to be a knee on our neck," he said.
Reports said some 2,000 uniformed personnel from the Philippine National Police (PNP) and a 33-man medical team from the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) have been deployed to Cebu City to help and assist in the implementation and enforcement of health and safety protocols under the prevailing enhanced community quarantine (ECQ).