ONLY 2,000 medical workers who were infected with Covid-19 were able to claim their employee’s compensation (EC), according to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).
These EC-claimants are just 15.49 percent of the 12,904 healthcare workers who were tallied by the Department of Health (DOH) to have tested positive for Covid 19 as of December 9, 2020.
Of these cases, 76 have died, 12,622 have already recovered, and 206 remain infected.
In a press briefing last week, Labor and Employment Secretary Silvestre H. Bello reported that DOLE’s Employees Compensation Commission (ECC) released P20.7 million for the 2,000 Covid-affected health-care workers (HCW).
ECC also provided P827 million worth of benefits to 80,000 workers this year.
Both DOLE and ECC earlier urged other HCWs, who were infected while at work, to avail themselves of their EC.
Amid the pandemic, Bello said he is now pushing to increase the EC rate for qualified members of the Social Security System (SSS) and the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) from P10,000 to P50,000.
The current rate of the EC, he said, is insufficient for the medical needs of the workers who will suffer work-related sickness or injury.
The labor chief is confident the ECC could afford it since it has an estimated P90 billion worth of funds for the benefits of its members.