BAGUIO CITY March 26 – The city government urged landlords and landladies not to drive away health workers from their boarding houses for reasons that they had been part of those that had been handling persons under investigation (PUIs) and presumptive Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) cases in the city.
Mayor Benjamin B. Magalong said that the health workers had been doing a lot for sacrifice exposing their lives to risks in attending to the medical needs of PUIs and presumptive COVID-19 cases that is why people must learn to understand their situation.
He pointed out that instead of discriminating, stigmatizing or harassing health workers who are renting in the different apartments and boarding houses in the city, people must learn to value the importance of their contributions in helping the PUIs and presumptive COVID-19 cases recover from the deadly virus, thus, they do not deserve such treatment at these trying times where the help of everyone is need to overcome the prevailing crisis.
The Mayor joined health officials of the Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center (BGHMC) in appealing to the public not to unjustly discriminate the health workers who are exposed to the PUIs and presumptive COVID cases considering that they are properly protected with the provision of the needed personal protective equipment before they are allowed to attend to such highly contagious cases, thus, they are free of the virus once they get home.
According to him, the thousands of health workers risking their lives in attending to PUIs and presumptive COVID cases deserve the needed support and morale booster during this period of enhanced community quarantine, as discrimination and stigmatization among other forms of harassment have no place at the critical period of the country’s fight against the deadly virus.
He underscored the city government salutes the health workers who are among the frontliners in the fight against COVID-19 as they expose themselves to extreme danger simply because it is their duty to attend to patients and thus they must be supported in whatever way to allow them to efficiently and effectively perform their critical duties and responsibilities in the health sector.
On the part of the city government, it continues to procure the needed personal protective equipment for distribution to the health workers in the different private and public hospitals in the city.
Among the PPEs being procured by the city include face masks, gowns, gloves, thermal scanners aside from the put up of make shift disinfection tens in the different hospitals and public places frequented by people to ensure that people going to such areas will not contract the virus.
He reiterated health workers deserve the utmost respect because of their sacrifices and their commitments in serving the needs of the affected patients.
By Dexter A. See
