HEALTH WORKERS SOUND ALARM: LSIs, OFWs could overwhelm public health system

“Public health and the economy are interlinked. If cases of coronavirus disease 2019 continue to rise, people will lose confidence in the economy. There would be fewer investments,” says Dr. Maria Socorro Colmenares-Quiñon of the Provincial Health Office. IME SORNITO/PN
“Public health and the economy are interlinked. If cases of coronavirus disease 2019 continue to rise, people will lose confidence in the economy. There would be fewer investments,” says Dr. Maria Socorro Colmenares-Quiñon of the Provincial Health Office. IME SORNITO/PN

ILOILO – A deluge of returning locally stranded individuals (LSIs) and overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) could overwhelm the province’s public health system, warned healthcare workers.

There may not be enough facilities to quarantine for 14 days the LSIs and repatriated overseas workers, they said, and contact tracing may become less efficient.

Worse, more healthcare workers may be infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the healthcare workers warned.

Dr. Maria Socorro Colmenares-Quiñon of the Provincial Health Office took up the cudgels for the healthcare workers. She urged the national government to be more circumspect in shipping LSIs and OFWs back to Western Visayas.

“Please lessen the number of people being transported back. For example, pwede 200 for LSIs and 300 or even 200 lang per week for OFWs,” said Quiñon.

As of yesterday, July 14, Western Visayas had a total of 611 COVID-19 cases. Of these, 452 were repatriates (LSIs and OFWs), data from the Department of Health (DOH) showed.

At 137, Iloilo province had the second most number of COVID-19-positive repatriates, next only to Negros Occidental which had 191.

According to Quiñon, local government units (LGUs) may run out of quarantine facilities to accommodate more incoming LSIs and OFWs.

“I am appealing on behalf of our healthcare workers. I hope and pray that our authorities will be provided with wisdom in their decision-making. Decisions should be for the greater good,” she stressed.

Contact tracing is important and this is one of the tasks of COVID-19 healthcare workers, said Quiñon, but if they get infected themselves, contact tracing would be adversely affected.

She cited the case of healthcare workers in the Rural Health Unit (RHU) of Alimodian town – five of them contracted the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

The RHUs of Bingawan (six healthcare workers) and New Lucena (two healthcare workers) were in a similar situation, revealed Quiñon.

If the return of LSIs and OFWs is not cautiously handled, the adverse consequences may go beyond public health and safety, she warned.

“Public health and economy are interlinked. If COVID-19 cases continue to rise, people will lose confidence in the economy. There would be few investments,” said Quiñon.

As of the July 12 data of DOH, a total of 23,114 LSIs and 8,213 OFWs have returned to Western Visayas.

Here’s the breakdown of LSIs who have returned – Antique, 5,777; Negros Occidental, 4,584; Capiz, 4,199; Iloilo province, 3,218; Aklan, 2,962; Bacolod City, 1,066; Iloilo City, 924; Guimaras, 384.

On the other hand, here’s the breakdown of repatriated overseas workers – Iloilo province, 3,055; Capiz, 1,015; Iloilo City, 1,000; Aklan, 888; Bacolod City, 831; Antique, 678; Negros Occidental, 489; Guimaras, 257.

As of yesterday, July 14, the 452 COVID-19-positive repatriates were in the following areas:

* Aklan – five

* Antique – five

* Capiz – 13

* Guimaras – 10

* Iloilo province – 137

* Negros Occidental – 191

* Bacolod City – 48

* Iloilo City – 43/PN

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here