DOH Deploys Doctors in Cebu City

With Cebu City being the epicenter of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the Philippines, the Department of Health (DOH) will redeploy doctors in “barrios” to help contain the further spread of the virus.

As of yesterday, Cebu City has 4,962 total cases with 2,210 active cases, 2,596 recoveries, and 156 total deaths.

DOH Secretary Francisco Duque III already made an order to redeploy doctors in the city.

Doctors to be deployed are serving under the “Doctors of the Barrios” (DTTB), a program that aims to address the lack of doctors and other health workers in rural communities.

“The DTTBs will be temporarily assigned to Cebu City to provide critical relief as part of the national response to the emergency situation. This temporary assignment is not new as DTTBs have been temporarily redeployed in the past under similar emergency situations such as the Marawi siege and the Super Typhoon Yolanda response,” according to DOH’s statement.

Doctors will undergo strict pre-deployment orientation and will be provided statutory allowances, hazard pay, accommodations, and other expenses they might have to shoulder during the duration of their duty in Cebu City.

Meanwhile, Cebu City was placed back under Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) by the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) from June 16 – June 30 due to the rapid increase of COVID-19 cases. (MLC)