The Department of Health (DoH) assured rural doctors, who will volunteer to be deployed in coronavirus-hit areas, that necessary measures will be put in place to ensure their safety. 

“Hindi po namin sila pababayaan kung sakali po na tayo ay magdi-deploy. Tayo naman po ay magkakaroon ng mga safety measures para hindi sila manghahawa at hindi rin sila makakapanghawa (We will take care of them in case we deploy them. We will set safety measures in order for them not to transmit the disease or for them not to be infected),” said Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire. 

Vergeire was asked regarding the hesitation of some physicians under the government’s “Doctors to the Barrios” program on being deployed to areas with a high number of COVID-19 cases, particularly in Metro Manila -- which are also in need of additional workforce. She said that this deployment is voluntary. 

Among the concerns of rural physicians would be the shortage of healthcare manpower in the communities that they are currently serving.

“We are having continuous dialogue with them but also with local officials. We know when they are going to be deployed to another place, they will leave their areas. That’s why, we are trying to strategize...Tumitingin po kami ng ibang healthcare workers na  puwede pumalit if ma-deploy sila (We are looking at other healthcare workers who can replace them if they would be deployed),” said Vergeire. 

The DoH recently called on provincial health workers, medical overseas Filipino workers returning home, and medical societies, to be part of its “rapid response team of trained medical workers”  who can help prevent the health system in Metro Manila from being “overrun,” as the number of COVID-19 cases in the area continues to rise. 

“To those who enlist in this campaign and answer our call, we are providing hazard pay, accommodations, transport, PPEs (personal protective equipment), and even psychosocial, emotional, and mental support,” the DoH said in a statement last Aug. 2.

Vergeire expressed hopes that the rural physicians will remember their sworn duty as medical frontliners. 

“Ito opinyon ko, pumasok tayo sa gobyerno, pumasok tayo dito sa trabahong ito, nag-aral tayo ng pagka-doktor. Sumumpa tayo na pag may nangailangan na may sakit -- tutulong tayo (This is my opinion, we entered the government, we entered this job, we studied medicine. We swore that when someone is sick -- we will help),” said Vergeire. 

“Sa tingin ko kailangan lang isa-isip at isa-puso ng bawat healthcare workers ang mga sinumpaan naming tungkulin. Ito ay tumatawag ang bayan para tumulong tayo (I think every healthcare worker just needs to keep in mind our sworn duties. The people are calling us to help them). I think with this, we have to heed that call because we are healthcare workers, doctors, government officials, and this is part of what we do for service,” she added.