Military med team deployed for Cebu’s COVID-19 fight arrives in Bacolod

By Glazyl Y. Masculino

 

BACOLOD City – A 12-member medical team of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) arrived at the Bacolod-Silay airport in Negros Occidental on Friday to assist this city in curbing the rising number of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases.

The team was previously deployed to Cebu City when COVID cases spiked there months ago.

Capt. Lizah Doroa (MC) led the medical team that was divided into two groups – each having one doctor, two nurses and three aid men.

This was the response of the national government to the urgent appeal of Mayor Evelio Leonardia for help from President Rodrigo Duterte due to the dwindling number of medical personnel here.

Leonardia said the manpower shortage is a compelling reason for necessary augmentation.

One group will be assigned to the Riverside Medical Center and the other to the Bacolod Queen of Mercy Hospital.

”We’ve always been ready for COVID-19 since March,” Doroa said.

Doroa said that people can cooperate with the authorities by always observing safety precautions and reporting cases to the local government unit.

Meanwhile, the Army’s 303rd Infantry Brigade (IBde) in the province received 50 personal protective equipment (PPEs) from the AFP medical team to be distributed to military frontliners.

Colonel Inocencio Pasaporte, 303rd IBde commander, said that the medical team will help boost the efforts of the local authorities here to curb the spread of the virus.