The Philippine Red Cross (PRC) said today it would swab 180 healthcare staff of Dr. Jose Fabella Memorial Hospital in Manila as seven of its resident doctors tested positive for COVID-19 three days ago.
In his Twitter account, Sen. Richard J. Gordon, PRC chairman and chief executive officer (CEO), said they received an urgent call this morning from Dr. Esmeraldo Ilem, hospital chief, requesting for PRC’s assistance.
“We said it before and we will say it again – WE MUST PROTECT OUR FRONTLINERS. These healthcare workers are at the forefront since Day 1 and have worked nonstop to deliver best and quality care,’’ he said.
‘’They are very important. We will undertake the testing,’’ he added.
Gordon emphasized that the PRC ’’is a humanitarian organization that values our healthcare workers and our frontliners.’’
‘’To date, PRC has already tested 34,093 healthcare workers in 15 DoH hospitals nationwide, regularly, once every two weeks.’’
The tests would be undertaken despite the non-payment by the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) to the PRC of more than P900 million for past COVID-19 testing the past months.