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- She said that encouragement is not enough as they need medical and financial support.
- There are currently 17 doctors who have died from COVID-19.
With the lack of personal protection equipment (PPE) and support from the government, more and more frontliners are starting to get infected with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
Twitter user Frizzle Anne Music, the sister of one of the health workers who is COVID-19 positive, said that while they pray for her sister’s recovery, she also hopes that tangible help from the government will actually be felt by not just the frontliners, but all Filipinos in need.
https://twitter.com/FrizzleAnne_/status/1244960271904509954
Music added that her sister has three children. Two of them are left alone at home as their youngest sister is at the care of their grandma and their father is under isolation.
These are her daughters. Good thing the youngest was sent to their lola prior.
It pinches my heart knowing that my nieces (10 & 8yrs old) have to be left at home looking after themselves because their mom is confined, and they’re dad‘s under isolation. pic.twitter.com/GN8Bl0WZwT
— Frizzle Anne Music (@FrizzleAnne_) March 31, 2020
She then asked the government for their plans for the families of the frontliners. “Kailangang lumakas ang immune system nila, pero paano sila magkakaroon ng means? Wala silang trabaho,” she wrote.
https://twitter.com/FrizzleAnne_/status/1244970380575596544
Words of encouragement are nice but it’s not what they need. Medical and financial support should be prioritized.
https://twitter.com/FrizzleAnne_/status/1244971506423066626
On March 31, President Rodrigo Duterte drew flack as he said that frontliners are “lucky to die” for the country. During a pre-recorded televised speech, he romanticized the death of medical employees when he said that they are lucky to die in service of the Philippines.
“May mga doktor na, mga nurses, attendants, namamatay. Sila yung nasawi ang buhay para lang makatulong sa kapwa. Napakaswerte nila. Namatay sila para sa bayan. Iyon lang dapat ang rason na bakit tayo mamamatay,” the President said.
“It would be an honor to die for your country, I assure you.”
The Philippine Medical Association earlier said that doctors have died as hospitals are overwhelmed and medics are complaining about the lack of protection for those on the front lines. There are hundreds of medical staff in quarantine after exposure to COVID-19 patients.
There are now 17 frontline doctors who passed away while fighting COVID-19.
