Health Secretary Francisco Duque III on Monday, April 26, has called on nurses and doctors to work in hospitals in the country as there is a need for more healthcare workers to man medical facilities amid the ongoing coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

During the opening of Eva Macapagal Isolation Facility at the South Harbor in Port Area, Manila, Duque laments the insufficient number of nurses and doctors serving in the frontlines of the country’s battle against COVID-19.

“Kulang tayo ng mga nurses at mga doktor kaya ako po ay nag-aapela sa Philippine Nurses Assocation, na pinulong ko nung Sabado, at nag-makaawa na nga ako na hikayatin nila ang kanilang mga nurses na magtrabaho muli sa mga ospital at huwag na sa mga call centers at sa iba pang mga opisina na wala naman talagang kaugnayan sa kanilang propesyon (We are short of nurses and doctors so I am appealing to the Philippine Nurses Association, whom I met on Saturday, and I begged them to encourage their nurses to work in hospitals again and not on call centers and other offices which have nothing to do with their profession),” he said.

Based on the data from the Department of Health (DOH) as of Monday, 71 percent of intensive care unit (ICU) beds in Metro Manila were already occupied, while 57 percent of the total 3,800 isolation beds are being utilized.

“The focus of our intervention now in expending the healthcare facilities is really the ICU. Why? Because it is the ICU that saves lives,” Duque said.

“So, we would like to put everything in expanding the ICU capacity. More beds, more human resource,” he added.

Moreover, the DOH data showed that 64 percent of around 2,200 hospital ward beds in NCR are in use, while 58 percent of the ventilators are being utilized.

“So ngayon po, nangangailangan po tayo ng mga nurses kaya ako’y nananawagan na sana tumugon po kayo sa aming pakiusap at apela (So now, we need nurses so I call on you to respond to our request and appeal),” Duque said.

“Magkaisa po tayo na kalingahin at magsalba ng buhay ng mga COVID cases lalo na po yung mga severe to critical, at lalong lalo na po yung mga senior citizens na may mga kaakibat na mga sakit (Let's unite to protect and save the lives of COVID patients, especially those who are severe to critical, and senior citizens with pre-existing diseases, and they are really the vulnerable),” he added.