Coronavirus: in the Philippines, health workers without protective equipment fear exposure

With hospitals preparing for an expected surge in cases in the weeks ahead, the race is on to get doctors and nurses the equipment they need in time

A lack of funds has even forced some health care professionals to go ‘begging on social media’ for personal protective equipment amid the outbreak

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A woman wearing a mask prays inside a church south of Manila last week. Photo: EPA

Published: 5:20pm, 17 Mar 2020Updated: 12:27am, 19 Mar 2020

Frontline health care workers in the Philippines are growing increasingly concerned about a lack of personal protective equipment that they fear will expose them to the Covid-19 coronavirus.

As of Tuesday, the country had only reported 187 cases and 12 deaths, but with President Rodrigo Duterte this week putting the entirety of Metro Manila and mainland Luzon, home to at least 57 million people, into “community quarantine” until April 12, health workers are looking to their stocks of face masks, gloves, disposable gowns and face shields and finding them wanting.

Members of emergency response teams train in using protective equipment to respond to potential coronavirus cases in the Philippines. Photo: EPA

“For now, we have a process and we are managing,” said Jolysses Calunod, a nurse in Metro Manila, who nevertheless cautioned that “the care our hospital can provide is limited”.

“In the event that a patient tests positive and has severe symptoms we have to coordinate the transfer of them to the department of health, to find an available hospital,” he said.

“There is a lack of funding and precautionary measures and we can only eradicate this if more focus is put towards health equipment, staff, personal protective equipment and testing.”

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