EDITORIAL - Heroes of pandemic

As the nation marked the Day of Valor yesterday, heroes of the ongoing war were on the frontlines, battling a lethal but unseen enemy. Health frontliners were among the earliest fatalities in the COVID-19 pandemic, and they continue to risk their health and lives to save others.

Even before the pandemic, the country was already in need of more health care workers. Whether in densely populated urban centers or in rural communities, there has never been enough people providing public health care services. This time, with COVID cases surging by the thousands daily, the health care system is becoming overwhelmed, especially in the epicenter of the surge: NCR Plus, or the National Capital Region and the provinces of Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna and Rizal.

The surge prompted the government to send an SOS to low-risk areas outside the NCR Plus for health care workers. As of Thursday, 136 doctors and nurses from all over the country had responded to the call, taking up stations mostly in COVID referral hospitals.

Under the program, the redeployed health personnel would get tested for COVID before, during and after their deployment. Apart from their regular salaries from their original offices, they will receive a daily allowance, work transportation allotments, accommodation and meals.

No amount can fully compensate health care workers for the risks they are taking in this unprecedented pandemic. Their sacrifices, however, are far from over. And in the ongoing surge, the NCR Plus in particular is in need of more HCWs.

Hospitals are being decongested and more isolation facilities are being set up for mild and asymptomatic COVID cases, or those recovering and without comorbidities. These off-hospital facilities, however, will also need health professionals to monitor all patients. Private hospital operators have also said they need additional HCWs to man expanded COVID facilities.

If the surge is not quickly contained within the NCR Plus bubble, there’s a strong likelihood that the problem could spread to lower-risk areas. Containing the surge calls for more health workers in the COVID epicenter. The nation can only pray for countless blessings for the heroes who answer the call.