Doctors in some private hospitals have already fallen ill due to the overwhelming number of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients, the Philippine College of Physicians (PCP) said Tuesday, Sept. 7.
"Talagang napapagod na po 'yung mga doktor natin dahil sa araw araw na ginawa ng Diyos ay talaga namang napakadami ng kaso na nakikita namin. Punong-puno po 'yung emergency room, puno rin po 'yung intensive care unit, puno din lahat ng wards (Our doctors are really tired because every day that God has made, there are really so many cases that we see. The ER is full, the ICU is also full, all the wards are also full," said PCP president Dr. Maricar Limpin in an interview with DzMM Teleradyo.
"Ito po ay hindi lang COVID cases, pati po 'yung mga non-COVID cases eh nagdadagsaan na rin po sa ospital kaya po talagang medyo pagod na ang mga tao (These are not just COVID cases, but also non-COVID cases are already flooding the hospital so people are really a bit tired)," she added.
Limpin also said some doctors had been infected by the deadly virus.
"Marami sa mga doktor ay talagang nalagay sa quarantine at marami ho ay nagkasakit ng COVID-19.. kaya medyo may mga ospital talaga tayong depleted (Many doctors had to undergo quarantine and many contracted COVID-19)," she said.
"Yung number ng doctor... half of workforce ay medyo naaapektuhan (The number of doctors ... half of the workforce is somewhat affected)," she added.
With so many patients seeking treatment, Limpin said some doctors were even serving long hours at the hospitals.
"'Yung dedication naman namin sa trabaho hindi naman na siguro ma-qquestion ano. Talagang sa panahon lang na ito, sa dami ho talaga ng pasyenteng kailangan na alagaan eh talagang doon po nakakapagod (Our dedication to work can't be questioned. It's really just at this time, with the number of patients who need to be taken care of, it's really tiring there)," she told DzMM.
She added that healthcare workers are also experiencing emotional burden for not being able to accept new patients.
Limpin, meanwhile, said the healthcare workers are eyeing to propose for another timeout.
"Hindi pa ba tayo magta-timeout? So, I hope sana ang ating Pangulo i-consider ang sitwasyon po naming mga health-care workers. Talagang pong medyo sukdulan na ang aming nakikita ("Aren't we going to time out yet? So, I hope our President will consider the situation of our health-care workers. What we are seeing is really quite extreme)," she said.
"At the very least, i-maintain man lamang po ang moderate enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) pero 'yung medyo tunay na MECQ sana (maintain the MECQ but I hope a real MECQ)," she said.
The National Capital Region (NCR) will shift back to general community quarantine (GCQ) starting Sept. 8 until the end of the month.