Those fighting on the frontlines are Filipino nurses, doctors, caregivers. Sadly, “Filipino and Filipino American nurses are dying from COVID-19 at disproportionately high rates, accounting for more than 30% of the 205 U.S. nurses who have died, though the group makes up just 4 percent of the total nurse workforce,” according to The Mercury News.
More than two-thirds of nurse deaths in California are among Filipino Americans, the Mercury News reported in October. “California, where about 20% of nurses identify as Filipino, they account for 11 of the 16 COVID-19 deaths in the profession, or nearly 70%,” according to the California Nurses Association.
Why are our kababayans so vulnerable? It is because “Filipino American nurses are more likely to work in higher-risk roles within hospital systems, such as the intensive care unit, emergency medicine or telemetry units, where high-risk patients are under constant electronic monitoring — putting them directly in the path of COVID-19,” said Catherine Ceniza Choy, Ph.D., a professor of ethnic studies at University of California, Berkeley.
We would hear this even from our friends and family. Many Filipinos chose to study nursing as their way to immigrate to the United States and earn equitable income to support their family, not only their own nuclear family, but also their extended family back home in the Philippines. This income opportunity was hardly available in the Philippines.
This motivation and the innate caring nature of Filipinos lead our nurses to take on night shifts and positions in acute care that are not preferred by other nurses in America. Many of them even work part-time in nursing homes and long-term care facilities to earn more.
“Filipino nurses, here specifically in the U.S., are concentrated specifically in inpatient critical care services,” according to Dr. Ceniza Choy. “Many of them are also caregivers at home, not only of children, but also their parents and other elders. And so part of the problem with the pandemic is these multiple layers of vulnerability and exposure.”
Statistics show that the spike in infection cases happen during the holidays when people get together in big groups, making parties, outings, reunions super spreaders. In many parts of the country like California — home to the biggest number of Filipinos in the United States — lockdowns and curfews are again ordered to mitigate the further spread of the virus during the Christmas and New Year holiday season.
California has recorded a half-million coronavirus cases in the last two weeks and in a month, it could be facing a “once-unthinkable caseload of nearly 100,000 hospitalizations,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom said.
Because of this, Gov. Newsom warns that hospitals may be overwhelmed even more, and “may run out of room even in their makeshift ‘surge’ capacity units “by the end of the month and early in January.” In response, Newsom said the state is updating its planning guide for how hospitals would ration care if everyone can’t get the treatment they need.
When we hear warnings like this, we know that our Filipino medical front liners, especially our nurses, will be overworked and overwhelmed, working long hours and exposing themselves more to the virus.
Thankfully, our nurses and doctors are among those given top priority for the vaccine against COVID-19. Most of them have already gotten their first shot of two doses. After them, the CDC will announce the next group of the population who will be getting vaccinated.
But just as we are still in the initial roll-out of this vaccine, we all should still practice all the public health safety measures recommended by our health officials.
Dr. Germinigildo Valle, an internal medicine specialist at the Seton Medical Center in Daly City, California reminds us:
“Yon po — magmask, magpabakuna, maghugas ng kamay, mag social distance at sabihin po sa iba nating mga mahal sa buhay na ganoon din po ang gawin. As a community, we should be models. Most of our kababayans are in the healthcare industry so they have better understanding, they are better models for the others. So sana po sama-sama tayo lahat. Pag panahon na ng pasko, pagdating ng bagong taon na tayo ay manatiling malusog, masaya at magpasalamat.
If we truly honor and are grateful to our modern-day heroes who are risking their lives to save hours, then the least we can do is to practice these safety measures. The life we save may be ours and of our loved ones, our doctors, nurses and caregivers, our neighbors.
It is our duty as patriotic citizens if we truly love our country and our people, then we need to do our share of sacrifice to win this was against COVID-19. It is our solemn calling as Christians if we are truly pro-life and live the message of empathy, compassion, and being a man for others, serving a purpose bigger than ourselves.
To be continued…
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The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Asian Journal, its management, editorial board and staff.
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Gel Santos Relos has been in news, talk, public service and educational broadcasting since 1989 with ABS-CBN and is now serving the Filipino audience using different platforms, including digital broadcasting, and print, and is working on a new public service program for the community. You may contact her through email at [email protected], or send her a message via Facebook at Facebook.com/Gel.Santos.Relos.
