Champions do not only emerge from competitions; they are also seen in the impacts of what they do, and how others benefited from these. They are reciprocated through praises, now often expressed in social media. The public also supports the other initiatives of these champions who do not always occupy a high social class or political position.
There are many ordinary people whom the public now consider as our champions because they forward our people’s interests first, and provide their needs.
In community work, champions refer to highly-engaged private or public individuals who are associated with particular groups, organizations, and institutions. They help in the advocacies of programs that benefit specific sectors or the society as a whole. Examples of programs that are urgent are on the environment and health like zero-waste management, proper sanitation, food safety and nutrition, preventive public health, and sustainable fisheries. They advocate for appropriate behaviors to meet the program goals or the needs of the time.
In the current crisis of CoViD-19, a significant behavior change is needed. This change to prevent viral transmission, and to flatten the curve of infection requires getting rid of some old ways of doing things, or those that are only appropriate during normal times.
While viral transmission is also real during normal times, this one is more dreaded now due to the absence of a vaccine or cure. But some individuals are more vulnerable, compared to those who stay at home in strict compliance with the enhanced community quarantine — a condition requiring drastic behavior change.
Experts would say that the most vulnerable are those who have the highest exposure to risk, and do not have enough protective or preventive measures to reduce or eliminate it. Even if there is an associated risk in performing specific tasks, one is more or less safe when he is prepared, and has everything needed to counter the threat.
For instance, the poor may be at high risk of hunger due to ECQ, but this is somewhat mitigated by the food assistance efforts from government and private organizations/individuals. How much aid will be needed throughout will depend on how much resources are available and how long this crisis will last.
Incidentally in this pandemic, there is a scarcity of personal protection equipment (PPE), as well as life-saving and laboratory facilities, particularly in the Philippines but also in others parts of the world like New York or Italy. This situation has put our frontliners at a defensive stance, with a high risk in the fight against CoViD-19.
Private individuals and organizations have so far produced DIY (do-it-yourself) face masks and face shields, and donated them to local government units and hospitals for use by our frontliners. Having these improvised gear is better than not being protected at all, some would say, while government continues to wait for donations or the purchase of more imported PEP.
Our frontliners are not only the medical personnel but also the non-medical persons from the private and public sectors, who are the first on the ground in providing the essential services in the face of a public health crisis due to CoViD-19.
Comparatively, the most at risk among the frontliners are the medical personnel directly attending to the CoViD-19 positive patients. Next are the military and police personnel, security guards, and barangay tanods securing the entrances of jurisdictional boundaries or establishments to prevent the coming in of possible infected people. In a report, the Philippine National Police confirmed 19 personnel from their ranks have been infected, while a good number were under investigation or monitoring (CNN Philippines, 6 April 2020).
Perhaps the individuals not intensely-exposed to risk are those working in establishments like supermarkets, pharmacies, gasoline stations, and related others providing essential services. They may not be directly in contact with infected people, except the asymptomatic who may be freely moving around. The clergy and church workers who continue to perform and assist church ceremonies in observance of the Holy Week (virtually due to the ECQ) are also considered frontliners because they serve the spiritual needs of the faithful, but maybe also less exposed to the public.
I see the frontliners as champions due to their heroic acts of going to work, although they have high-risk exposure. They could actually opt to simply stay home and be safe, but they are determined to continue performing their assigned tasks of looking out for the needs of others — not for fear of losing their jobs.
Nonetheless, the ethics in the health profession has been a reminder that keeps them thinking of their safety first amid their eagerness to care for others. They have the right to refuse high-risk assignments or to perform certain procedure on suspected Persons under Investigation or confirmed CoViD-19 patients when the PPE is insufficient.
Despite some health workers’ frustrations on the fight against an invisible enemy, the satisfaction they get of being able to serve others who badly need their expertise must be keeping their morale high.
But to what extent this caring spirit would remain high is a disconcerting question, given the limited medical resources and PPE available at their disposal. They are also alarmed by the increasing number of infected health workers, and those who died without having their respective families around. Data from the Private Hospitals Association of the Philippines show 21 Filipino doctors have since died. (GMA News Online, 7 April 2020). The Department of Health reported that of the 252 health workers who have been tested positive of CoViD-19, 152 (60 percent) were doctors, 63 (25 percent) were nurses, and 37 (15 percent) were other health workers. (CNN Philippines, 8 April 2020)
But the most frustrating concern is the discrimination experienced by some health workers due to stigma, which has increased now as compared to the first time I wrote about it here (MetroPost, 29 March 2020). Our health workers have become the object of discrimination because they had been in direct contact with CoViD-19 patients, and are stigmatized to have been infected as well, or that they could contaminate others.
Such unfounded fears are not only unfair but uninformed, as our health workers who attend to CoViD-19 patients are actually quarantined for 14 days under strict monitoring before they are allowed to go back home to their families or to take a much-needed break.
Stories had earlier circulated that some cases of discrimination were being experienced by our health workers from a local hospital here in Dumaguete. Instances of being refused a ride in a tricycle, ejected from a boarding house, or given a scrutinizing look in grocery stores when they happened to be in their hospital uniforms. The DOH reported a similar incident in Cebu, and has reprimanded the public for violently attacking the health workers (Cebu Daily News Digital, 2 April 2020).
Meanwhile, the Metro Manila Council passed a Resolution recommending the prohibition of discriminatory acts against frontliners of public health efforts (CNN Philippines, 7 April 2020).
As I now reflect on the Passion of Christ this Holy Week, I think about the rude treatment now faced by a number of our health workers — a stark contrast to the public appreciations normally accorded to champions who render extraordinary service in the name of countless others. These frontliners, our health workers, are our “saviors”, sacrificing their own health to contain a disaster and yet, getting rejected and condemned by those who do not know.
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Author’s email: [email protected]