Bulacan province is now appealing for additional doctors and nurses as it is already running out of available medical workers due to the continuous rise in its new COVID-19 cases and the threat of the Delta variant.
Provincial Gov. Daniel Fernando said Wednesday he already asked the Philippine National Police and the Department of Education if they could deploy their medical staff to the province after their active COVID-19 cases almost tripled in less than a month.
While Bulacan managed to provide more beds by following the "surge capacity design" for its new patients, Fernando is still concerned about the surge the province is experiencing.
"Ito na may mga space pa kaming paglalagyan na mga pasyenteng parating. May space pa kami, pero ang kulang namin talaga ay mga doctor at nurses. Dyan talaga kami kinukulang, kaya nanghihingi kami ng tulong (We still have spaces for new patients, but we lack doctors and nurses. That's why we're asking for help)," Fernando said in a TeleRadyo interview.
The rise in new COVID-19 infections in the province is so fast that the number rose from 600 to 2,180 in just a matter of days.
"June, July, okay pa 'to. Itong pagtungtong ng last week ng July...sunod sunod na po 'yan (pagtaas) (We were still doing good on June and July. But our cases continued to rise again starting last week of July until now)," Fernando said.
Unlike the National Capital Region, which will be placed under the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) from August 6 to 20, Bulacan will remain under a less stringent quarantine measure until August 15.
Fernando assured his constituents of strict border control checkpoints to ensure that the movement of people would be regulated.
As of Monday, August 2, Bulacan has at least three confirmed COVID-19 cases with the Delta variant.