20 Filipino healthcare workers in UK die of COVID-19, says PH embassy

MANILA, Philippines — At least 50 Filipinos in the United Kingdom, including 20 healthcare workers, have died due to COVID-19, the Philippine Embassy in London said Tuesday.

In a statement, the embassy even noted: “The deaths of the Filipino healthcare workers due to COVID-19 have caused a stir among British society since it is well known that Filipinos represent the third biggest group of National Health Service (NHS) staff after the British and Indians.”

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The Philippine Embassy in London said the “no less than 20 Filipino healthcare workers [that] have perished in the UK’s fight against the COVID-19” represents “around 50% of at least 50 Filipinos – by citizenship or ethnicity – who died of the disease, including three (3) who are undocumented immigrants.”

According to a March 2019 report on the workplace diversity of NHS, nearly 19,000 Filipinos serve the UK’s public health system either as medical professionals such as nurses and allied health professionals or as support staff.

The embassy said it has already brought to the attention of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) the concerns of Filipino nurses in the UK on the need for more personal protective equipment (PPE), especially for those assigned at COVID-19 wards.

“Various independent fundraisers have been organized by the friends and family of those who succumbed to the disease while several other Filipino community organizations are contributing in different ways to support those who continue to fight at the frontlines,” the embassy said.

These efforts include the provision of face masks as well as hot meals, it added.

“We are deeply concerned about the deaths of Filipino health workers who sacrificed their lives as the world continues to fight this vicious disease,” Philippine Ambassador to the United Kingdom Antonio Lagdameo said in the same statement.

“They put their lives on the line so that others may heal, live, and be reunited with their loved ones,” he added.

READ: Piers Morgan lauds Filipino nurses in UK as ‘unsung heroes’ in COVID-19 fight

The embassy said its consular section, as well as the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO), continue to closely coordinate with Filipino community organizations in extending assistance and monitoring the condition of those severely affected by the pandemic.

“The Embassy has also adopted measures to safeguard public health while at the same time to render critical assistance-to-nationals services to distressed Filipino citizens in light of the global pandemic,” it added.

The latest figures from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) showed that a total of 990 overseas Filipinos across 42 countries have already contracted the highly contagious respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus or SARS-CoV-2, which first outbreak was detected in China’s Wuhan City, Hubei province, in late 2019.

Of the number, 584 infected Filipinos are still undergoing treatment while 263 have already been discharged from hospitals or have recovered.

Meanwhile, DFA said 143 Filipinos abroad have so far died from COVID-19.

KGA