CABINET Secretary Karlo Nograles on Tuesday said the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) has approved the deployment of “medical graduates” to help combat the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) amid the exemption of certain health workers from a current travel ban.
Nograles, IATF spokesman, said the deployment of the medical graduates will be only for the duration of the state of public health emergency in the country “unless earlier withdrawn by the IATF upon recommendation of the DOH.”
Nograles said the IATF has approved the health department’s “Interim Guidelines for the Granting of Special Authorization for the Limited Practice of Medical Graduates.”
The Medical Act of 1959 states, “Medical students who have completed the first four years of medical course, graduates of medicine, and registered nurses are allowed to render medical services upon authorization by the Secretary of Health without need of a certificate of registration.”
In other countries, medical graduates have been tapped to augment their medical forces and boost emergency response amid the pandemic.
On the travel ban, Nograles said those exempted or will be allowed to return to their jobs abroad are physicians, nurses, and other healthcare professionals who have signed overseas employment contracts as of March 8 this year.
However, these health workers must execute and sign a declaration signifying their knowledge and understanding of the risks involved in traveling amid the COVID-19 pandemic, he said.
The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration imposed the deployment ban for selected types of health workers to prevent a looming shortage in health workers in local medical facilities.
Nograles said the IATF has also directed the Department of Health to facilitate the emergency hiring of additional healthcare workers to assist in the local healthcare system.
President Duterte, in a report to Congress late Monday, said the government approved the hiring of more than 857 health personnel to augment the staff of some government hospitals like the Philippine General Hospital and the Rodriguez Memorial Medical Center.
Earlier on Monday, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said his department is eyeing the hiring of an initial 857 healthcare workers who will be deployed to three designated COVID-19 referral hospitals — the Philippine General Hospital, the Lung Center of the Philippines, and the Dr. Jose N. Rodriguez Memorial Hospital.
Duterte, also on Monday night, directed policemen to help health workers who amid harassment faced by some frontline workers, along with the difficulty in finding transportation.
“The PNP is put on notice … Give them a lift and deliver them to their house,” Duterte said adding that health workers may also ask the police for help whenever they had difficulty finding transportation.
Duterte also warned government hospitals against refusing coronavirus patients, saying he would ask the Justice Department to “prosecute” officials of the erring hospitals.
He said heard of reports that a hospital in Cabanatuan City had refused six COVID-19 patients.
“My order is: must accept admission. You fail on that, I will relieve all of you in the hospital and you can consider yourself suspended because the written order will follow,” he said.
