The Philippine Health Insurance Corporation said medical frontliners and allied workers are entitled to full hospitalization coverage should they get infected by the COVID-19 virus.
The agency made the announcement to remind all hospitals in the country that they should not be charging any co-payment against patients whose job is in the medical frontlines.
The call is in support of President Rodrigo Duterte’s appeal to give health care workers and front liners all possible support in recognition of the risks they face on a day-to-day basis to help treat COVID-19 patients.
Restriction repeated
The Bureau of Immigration has reminded the Filipinos who plan to travel abroad as tourists are still restricted from leaving amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Commissioner Jaime Morente issued the statement after receiving a report that six Filipinos were recently barred from going to Cambodia via a special chartered flight from the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
The passengers were reportedly offloaded because their trip abroad was not essential, and neither did they fall under the category of travelers exempted from the travel ban while the country is under quarantine.
Plasma banks
Senator Imee Marcos on Monday proposed the creation of plasma banks in all public and private hospitals as COVID-19 survivor Senator Sonny Angara launched plasmangpagasa.com to connect donors with hospitals.
While the effective vaccine for COVID-19 and its possible mutations remained unavailable, Marcos said, the government must prepare for the long haul.
"Not even medical experts can tell the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic, how much further cases of infection in the country will increase and when a vaccine will be found,” Marcos said.
Enforce the guidelines
Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte has ordered the city’s 142 village officials to strictly enforce the general community quarantine guidelines within their areas of jurisdiction.
She warned local officials to be responsible enough to implement the general community quarantine protocol and the other national regulations to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
“We have been informed that most of the causes for the spread of COVID-19 cases in the areas that were recently placed under special concern lockdowns were due to various unauthorized activities, which were regrettably preventable,” Belmonte said.