AFP to ink deal with DOH for military health workers deployment to hospitals
MANILA, Philippines — The Armed Forces of the Philippines said it will ink an agreement with the Department of Health and hospitals for the deployment of military medical personnel to hospitals needing assistance.
In a statement on Wednesday, Col. Fatima Claire Navarro, AFP’s surgeon general, said the agreement with the DOH will “detail the specific number of military doctors, nurses and nursing aides that will be deployed as need as hospitals.”
It will also define the duration of their deployment, she added.
Navarro said the agreement will be implemented by AFP Health Service Command, guided by the AFP’s Office of the Surgeon General.
This comes days after President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the military and police to provide medical personnel to short-staffed hospitals as the country grapples with a rising number of COVID-19 infections.
In a pre-recorded address aired on September 23, Duterte noted that hospitals in Metro Manila have declared reaching their full capacity, with some of their healthcare workers needing to undergo quarantine.
"I am ordering the medical corps of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police...if you are listening to me now...please, place your human resources...on ready, on deck because I can really rely on you," Duterte said.
As of September 28, 77% of intensive care unit beds, 55% of isolation beds, 66% of ward beds and 58% of ventilators in Metro Manila are reported as utilized.
For the entire Philippines, the utilization rate for ICU beds is at 76%, isolation beds at 63%, ward beds at 68% and 55% for ventilators.
The national coronavirus caseload hit 2,522,965 as of Tuesday, with 13,846 new additions recorded on September 28 and 132,139 deemed as active cases. — Kristine Joy Patag with reports from The STAR/Alexis Romero
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