Salute to our heroes!

The Community Health Workers

COVID-19 crisis revealed the heroes of the nation. Frontliners are superheroes of today’s situation. They lose their own time since their work demands to do it so. They give their lives and sacrifice their own health to attend the needs of ill people.

Each day when they go to work, one of their feet is on the grave. They need to expose themselves to CoVid positive patient.

Some stopped themselves to return home. They should be away from their family to keep them safe. Some strive for sleepless days just to make patients recover. Each have their own homes however, they prefer to be in the hospital.

Frontliners’ Struggles

Some of health workers also struggle in going to work. In fact, few jeepneys don’t allow them to ride inside. In contrast to their heroism, they experience discrimination. Some lost their lives already.

One health worker at St. Louis Hospital in Tacurong, Sultan Kudarat was attacked by five men last 27 March. “Outnumbered and alone, he was helpless as these vile individuals splattered Zonrox (bleach) all over his face, which could have caused irreparable and permanent damage to his sight,” the hospital said.

“Our personnel is a breadwinner, as many of our frontliners are, who in the present pandemonium, chose to bravely continue their duties to the community. They remained unfazed by the discrimination that healthcare workers now face on a daily basis,” the medical center added.

Our heroes are not only struggling with their health. They also wrestle with the discrimination, pressure and frustration. In addition, a newspaper in Kuala Lumpur say that the Covid-19 pandemic could threaten frontliners’ mental health causing depression, anxiety, insomnia, or distress. Researchers studied on health workers exposed to Covid-19 in China, for instance, which was published in the journal JAMA Network Open, a significant proportion of 1,257 individuals surveyed were psychologically distressed.

They need our support, prayers and cooperation. Salute to the heroes of today.

 

 

Sources:

https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/03/24/20/duterte-salutes-all-covid-19-frontliners

https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2020/03/578454/covid-19-and-mental-health-risks-frontliners

ttps://tribune.net.ph/index.php/2020/03/28/covid-frontliners-face-splashed-with-bleach/