AT LEAST six medical personnel from various barangays in Bacolod City were assigned to the Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (DRRMO) to augment the extraction team for Covid-19 patients.

Executive Assistant Jose Maria Vargas, cluster head of DRRMO, said Monday, June 21, that Mayor Evelio Leonardia already approved their request for additional personnel for the extraction team.

He said the mayor approved the deployment of additional six personnel to help them with the extraction of Covid-19 patients in various barangays.

"Our staff are being overwhelmed and we have several Covid-19 patients who need to be extracted from their homes," he added.

Vargas noted that the six personnel including a nurse were already trained for an ambulance operation.

"They will be assigned to our eight ambulances to extract the Covid-19 patients," Vargas said.

He said each ambulance should have three personnel for the extraction of Covid-19 patients.

He added that currently, DRRMO has a total of 36 personnel.

Executive Assistant Ernesto Pineda, head of Emergency Operation Center-task force extraction, earlier said they are facing difficulty for the extraction of some Covid-19 patients, but now they are all cooperative and willing to be transferred to the city's quarantine facility.

He said non-cooperation will violated Section 9 of the Republic Act 11332, otherwise known as the "Law on Reporting of Communicable Diseases."

He said the city will file a case against the Covid-19 patients who refused to be transferred to the city's quarantine facility.