No doctors and medical personnel in Northern Mindanao Medical Center (NMMC) or the City Health Office (CHO) were recruited to augment the medical frontliners in the National Capital Region (NCR), local health officials said Tuesday noon, August 4.

“I received a text message from Regional Director Adriano Suba-an of the Department of Health (DOH-10) confirming the recruitment of five doctors, 15 nurses and three medical technologists to the NCR. But they are part of the DOH Doctors to the Barrios program that augmented our COVID-19 response program so they will be re-deployed,” City Health Officer Dr. Lorraine Nery said during Tuesday noon´s press briefing.

NMMC liaison officer Dr. Bernard Julius Rocha also confirmed that no doctors and medical personnel were recruited from their ranks by the DOH to augment the medical frontliners in Manila and parts of the NCR. The DOH move came after medical groups appealed to President Rodrigo Duterte for a two-week lockdown to help them prepare for contingencies in handling the surge of COVID-19 cases.

“For one thing, the NMMC is the main COVID-19 referral hospital in northern Mindanao and we are on a constant state of alert for any surge in COVID-19. The latest COVID-19 death involving an elderly female resident of Barangay Lumbia in Cagayan de Oro City is a reminder (that the COVID-19 threat is anything but over),” Dr. Rocha said.

City Health Office (CHO) resident epidemiologist Dr. Teodulfo Joselito Retuya confirmed that while they intensified their tracing of persons who had contact with the elderly female patient, he knew of fellow epidemiologists in northern Mindanao who are anticipating to be called by DOH to augment the NCR´s contact tracing activities there.