42% of Medical Front-Liners with Coronavirus Are Nurses: DOH-7

The Department of Health (DOH) in Region 7 (Central Visayas) on Tuesday said 23 of the 55 health workers who have contracted coronavirus disease (Covid-19) while serving the front lines during the pandemic are nurses.

Dr. Eugenia Mercedes Cañal, DOH-7 Regional Epidemiology Surveillance Unit (RESU) cluster head, said nurses comprise 41.8 percent of all the health workers infected with the coronavirus.

According to Cañal’s report approved by DOH-7 regional director Jaime Bernadas, only five doctors contracted Covid-19 while on duty.

Next to nurses, the report said also infected were six administrative support personnel, five nursing attendants, and five general services personnel.

Among the 55 front-liners infected with Covid-19 are three psychologists, three social workers, two midwives, and two workers at the Central Visayas Center for Health Development, the report added.

There is also one medical technologist recorded as Covid-19 case, Cañal said.

Meanwhile, data from the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center posted on its social media page showed there is a total of 114 health workers under quarantine due to suspected coronavirus infection.

The DOH-7 said the region now has a total of 2,923 confirmed Covid-19 patients.

“Among the HUCs (highly urbanized cities), Cebu City has the highest with 2,379 or 81.4 percent of the total Covid-19 confirmed cases,” Cañal said, adding that of the four provinces in the region, Cebu (excluding the independent cities of Cebu, Lapu-Lapu and Mandaue) has the highest number of cases at 167.

There are also 65 recorded deaths due to coronavirus in the region.

According to the DOH-7 data, about 61.1 percent or 1,787 patients tested positive of coronavirus in the region were males and the rest (1,136) were females.

The median age of Covid-19 patients in the region is 34. But the most affected age group is 21 to 30 years old with 671 patients or 23 percent of the total confirmed cases. (PNA)