Opposition leaders are trying to help shore up the country’s healthcare system after the country's treatment czar appealed for public patience with its One Hospital Command Center referral system, which has been overwhelmed with calls amid rising coronavirus cases.
This is after the Philippines’ COVID-19 death toll breached 14,000 with 242 new fatalities on Wednesday, as it logged 6,414 new cases of the coronavirus disease, bringing the total to 819,164.
The office of Vice President Leni Robredo launched Wednesday a teleconsultation platform that aims to provide medical assistance for outpatient cases, especially to those who have limited resources and access to doctors.
Dubbed Bayanihan E-Konsulta, this free service runs via a Facebook page and Messenger, to help those who cannot afford to access medical services or other existing teleconsult platforms.
Meanwhile, Senator Risa Hontiveros urged the Department of Health to tap the country’s “world-class” business processing outsourcing companies to help augment the operations of the One Hospital Command Center.
Senator Francis Pangilinan was also expected to call for help from the international community to help stop and turn around the upsurge in COVID-19 cases in the country at the worldwide Liberal Party Presidents’ meeting on Wednesday.
This was after Health Undersecretary and treatment czar Dr. Leopoldo Vega enumerated last week the issues bogging down the One Hospital Command's ability to facilitate hospital referrals to COVID-19 patients in Metro Manila and nearby regions.
The DOH has already tapped 50 health workers from the Visayas, who left Cebu City Wednesday to augment frontliners in the capital.
With the Department of Public Works and Highways, the DOH also led the turnover of the 110-bed capacity off-site modular hospital extension of the Jose R. Reyes Memorial Medical Center (JRRMMC) at the Quezon Institute to augment COVID-19 dedicated beds in Metro Manila.
Health care use in Metro Manila and nearby areas will remain high as daily COVID-19 cases are expected to rise in the bubble over the next few weeks, independent research group OCTA said Wednesday.
The capital region, home to a tenth of the country's population, was placed in a bubble under enhanced community quarantine, the strictest quarantine level, with Bulacan, Rizal, Laguna, and Cavite until April 11 to curb the surge of virus infections.
Metro Manila logged an average of 5,146 new COVID-19 cases from March 31 to April 6, with a one-week growth rate of 3 percent, according to OCTA.
Its reproduction number, or the number of people infected by a virus patient, decreased to 1.43 but testing only averaged 24,000 per day, OCTA said.
Possible ease
The capital region's COVID-19 reproduction number was 1.53 as of Monday, OCTA Research fellow Guido David earlier said. It is expected to slow to 1.2 after 2 weeks of ECQ, he said.
David said it was "possible" that the NCR Plus bubble might ease into modified enhanced community quarantine by next week.
The group added that the positivity rate in Metro Manila remained at 25 percent, with slightly lower positivity rates observed in Pasay (17 percent), Manila (23 percent), Marikina (23 percent), and Makati (24 percent).
The Philippines as of Tuesday logged a record-high 382 deaths and 9,373 more coronavirus infections, bringing its total cases to 812,760.
It is expected to reach 1 million cases by the end of the month, according to OCTA.
Death toll
The DOH reported 242 fatalities, bringing the death toll to 14,059, which is 1.72 percent of the total cases.
Active cases reached 158,701, which is 19.4 percent of the total. The figure is the second highest active cases recorded in a day.
Of the active cases, 97.5 percent are mild; 1.2 percent are asymptomatic; 0.5 percent are critical; 0.5 percent are severe; and 0.3 percent are moderate.
The DOH also reported that 163 patients recently recovered, bringing the total recoveries to 646,404, which is 78.9 percent of the total.
NCR cases
COVID-19 cases recorded in Metro Manila, between March 31 and April 6, increased by 3 percent only, the OCTA Research Group said Wednesday.
This is lower than the previous recorded weekly increase of 19 percent between March 25 to April 1.
OCTA, in its latest monitoring report, said Metro Manila reported an average of 5,146 new COVID-19 cases between March 31 to April 6, bringing the one-week growth rate to 3 percent.
Likewise, OCTA said that from March 31 to April 6, the reproduction rate of COVID-19 in Metro Manila was recorded at 1.43. This is lower than the previous figure of 1.53 reported on April 6.
They said the reproduction number, the rate of infection one COVID-19 case can infect, is at 1.45 nationwide.
Ceremonial turnover
The Department of Health, with the Department of Public Works and Highways, on Tuesday led the turnover of the 110-bed capacity off-site modular hospital extension of the Jose R. Reyes Memorial Medical Center (JRRMMC) at the Quezon Institute to augment COVID-19 dedicated beds in Metro Manila.
The modular hospital will be under the direct supervision of JRRMMC.
The modular hospital will also have several medical specialists on regular duty such as infectious disease consultants, pulmonologists, cardiologists, nephrologists, pathologists, radiologists, geriatricians, and internists.
The facility also has dormitories with a kitchen, pantry and laundry room, and can accommodate 64 healthcare workers. Due to alternating work schedules, these dormitories will protect on-duty health workers from further exposure and prevent them from bringing home the virus to their families and loved ones.
Health workers
Fifty health workers left Cebu City Wednesday morning, bound for Metro Manila to augment frontliners in the capital, which is battling a surge in coronavirus infections.
Hospitals in Metro Manila recently declared full capacity as COVID-19 cases continued to rise, prompting calls for the government to send help.
The 50 health workers include five doctors, 35 nurses, four doctors to the barrios, four medical technologists and two medical officers from the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center and the Cebu City Health Department.
These workers will be sent to the National Kidney Transplant Institute, Jose Reyes Memorial Medical Center, Lung Center of the Philippines, Rizal Medical Center and Tondo Medical Center, said Presidential Assistant for the Visayas Michael Dino.
“When Metro Manila sneezes, the rest of the country catches a cold. It was decided that the Visayas should render assistance to the now overwhelmed health care system in NCR plus,” said Dino.
'Tap BPOs'
Senator Risa Hontiveros on Wednesday urged the Department of Health to tap ‘world-class’ business processing outsourcing companies to help augment the operations of the government’s centralized hospital referral system, One Hospital Command Center, which currently is overwhelmed with calls due to the soaring COVID-19 cases in the country.
Hontiveros cited horror stories on social media, in which some citizens said OHCC returned their call for help as late as three days later, after their loved one had passed away.
“An efficient and well-coordinated hospital referral system is a vital part of our response to public health emergencies. Imagine how many lives we could have saved if only we promptly answered and facilitated all these distress calls,” she said.
Teleconsult platform
The Office of Vice President Leni Robredo launched Wednesday a teleconsultation platform which aims to provide medical assistance for outpatient cases, especially to those who have limited resources and access to doctors.
Dubbed Bayanihan E-Konsulta, this free service runs via a Facebook page and Messenger, to help those who cannot afford to access medical services or other existing teleconsult platforms.
This is made possible with the help of volunteer doctors and health professionals, who will conduct the teleconsultation, following a screening process done by volunteers for its call center. The platform currently caters to outpatient cases in the so-called “NCR Plus Bubble,” including Metro Manila and other areas under Enhanced Community Quarantine.
Aside from teleconsult services from volunteer doctors, the page also provides information relevant to needs like testing, quarantine, and other available platforms for medical concerns.
'War zone' hospital
Senator Francis Pangilinan was expected to call for assistance from the international community to help stop and turn around the upsurge in COVID-19 cases in the country at the worldwide Liberal Party Presidents’ meeting Wednesday night.
“Our hospitals are practically war zones. Ambulances of sick people are lining up outside hospitals. People are dying in hospital parking lots. Our medical front-liners are getting sick. We need help,” Pangilinan said.
“Today is World Health Day. A true celebration of this day would have been the control of the virus spread and the quick treatment and recovery of those who have been infected,” he said.