The number of people seeking assistance from the national government's COVID-19 response hotline, One Hospital Command Center (OHCC), has doubled in just a month as the country continues to experience a surge in new virus cases amid the Delta variant.
Dr. Marylaine Padlan, medical officer of OHCC, said the average daily number of calls being attended by their staff rose from around 200 in July to 400 to 500 in August.
She added that 20 percent of them are patients from the National Capital Region.
Meanwhile, when the Health department reported a "peak" in new COVID-19 cases at 22,366 on August 30, Padlan said the number of their calls were just the same.
"Noong tiningnan namin yung daily data namin dito, same pa rin po hindi naman nagbago yung average calls namin. do hamak na mas maraming cases during the surge (When we looked at our daily data during the peak of new cases, our average calls were just the same. But regarding the number of calls during this current surge and before, there's really a difference)." she said in a public briefing Friday.
Padlan has asked for the public's patience and understanding if they cannot easily reach out to the hotline because "with the huge number of our daily cases, our lines also get overwhelmed."
"Once we get a message or a call from you, we will ensure to call you back to address your needs," she added.