Advocacy group MentalHealthPH voiced its support for healthcare workers who called for a two-week timeout across Metro Manila, saying the respite can "slow down the spread of COVID-19" and is a way to provide healthcare workers "the space to breathe" amid the fight against the pandemic.
"We also re-echo the distress call of our healthcare workers. Lest we forget, they are also humans -- humans that are vulnerable to mental exhaustion and burnout aside from physical exhaustion," it wrote in a Facebook post on Monday (Aug. 3).
"We have to protect our last line of defense else, our healthcare system might collapse. Our healthcare workers need our collective voice more than ever," it added.
MentalHealthPH is a non-profit organization with core members composed of health professionals and mental health advocates across Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.
Earlier, the Philippine Heart Association said the reversion of Mega Manila to modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) will give overworked healthcare workers a "breathing space" as the number of COVID-19 cases in the country continue to swell.
On Sunday (Aug. 2), President Duterte heeded the plea of medical professionals to reimpose MECQ in Metro Manila, Laguna, Cavite, Rizal, and Bulacan due to the continuous increase of COVID-19 cases under relaxed community quarantine measures.