Philippine nurses, long treated like exports, now told to stay home to fight coronavirus
MANILA, Philippines - After decades of exporting its nurses to other countries, the Philippines is now pressuring them to stay home to fight the coronavirus.
The country, which is experiencing the second-most deadly outbreak of the disease in Southeast Asia after Indonesia, has barred health workers with new contracts from overseas jobs and launched an emergency hiring program to shore up a medical system that was failing even before the pandemic began.
The changes mark one more twist in the complex history of Philippine nurses, whose professional origins date back to American colonial rule more than a century ago when they were trained to care for U.S. soldiers.
Often tapped to fill shortages in other nations, Philippine nurses are the backbone of many health care facilities across the world and disproportionately planted on the front lines against COVID-19.
