Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto inspects facilities of a local hospital (file photo)
Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto lauded his city’s medical frontliners even if they are overwhelmed by the rise of new coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) infections in the city.
“We have a good system of contact tracing. Our health officers are hardworking. Our problem is that our workers are overloaded [because] there has been a spike in [coronavirus] cases during the general community quarantine. Many are calling them even as late as 3 a.m. … They really need more people now,” Sotto shared in an online briefing.
“They never complain. I am very proud of them,” Sotto added as he applauded the members of the city epidemiology disease and surveillance unit (Cedsu).
Sotto also shared that the local city government is currently hiring more Cedsu staff and contact tracers after some instances, such a lag which occurred in the unit’s response time. He added that Pasig residents would be on top of the hiring priority but if needed, they are willing to hire applicants from outside the city.
“We will increase the number of medical workers. I hope if you will talk to them on the phone, don’t be rude to them. I always tell them to also be patient with [patients],” he added.
“There should be mutual understanding. Let’s be understanding since we are in the middle of a crisis. They are just humans. Our Cedsu is very hardworking … Keep up the good work,” he said.
Sotto recently confirmed that starting Monday, August 3, Pasig City plans to implement a skeleton workforce until August 16.
Meanwhile, health-related offices such as hospitals, peace and order offices, community and social welfare development units, and disaster risk reduction and management offices are exempted from the newly implemented setup.
“All hospitals are full in the region—both public and private. Let’s all do our part. Aside from going to work and buying essential goods, let us stay at home for the meantime,” he said. (RJ Espartinez)