If she would have her way, presidential aspirant Vice President Leni Robredo would expand the services of the volunteer-driven Bayanihan E-Konsulta--her office’s free telemedicine program--outside the National Capital Region Plus (NCR)-plus.
Unfortunately, her office's resources are too limited for this to happen.
This was shared by her spokesperson, lawyer Barry Gutierrez, on ANC Top Stories on Saturday, Jan. 8.
“Well, unfortunately, we don't have the capacity to extend it beyond the NCR-plus bubble...We would like nothing better than to be able to expand it nationwide, but our resources are limited,” he said.
First launched by the Office of the Vice President (OVP) in April 2021, the initiative continues to be offered within NCR-plus, which is composed of Metro Manila the provinces of Cavite, Laguna, Rizal, and Bulacan..
Bayanihan E-Konsulta is a "completely volunteer-driven” service with over a thousand doctors and 2,000 non-doctors who act as call bridgers to link up the doctors with the patients.
“And they're all volunteers. And you know, if, if we can expand to areas outside of NCR, we'd clearly love to be able to do that, but right now that's, that's beyond the volunteer capacity that we have,” he said.
READ: Robredo reactivates e-Konsulta service; calls anew for volunteers in COVID response
Gutierrez shared that the number of requests the service is receiving has ballooned to 400 a day as opposed to last December before the current coronavirus disease (COVID-19) surge when it only received 90 to 100 requests a day.
He clarified that the program is also available to non-COVID patients, noting that the OVP understands that the lack of doctors and hospitals slots during this surge has affected a huge portion of the population.
Aside from the COVID care kit, which the OVP delivers to patients upon the doctor’s recommendation, the OVP can also dispense Molnupiravir, an antiviral medicine used for treating COVID-19.
This is also done with the doctor’s approval.
Meanwhile,Robredo said that another round of her office’s Swab Cab will be conducted on Monday, Jan. 10, from 8 a.m to 5 p.m. at the Immaculate Conception Parish Church, Novaliches.
READ: Robredo brings back free mobile antigen testing as COVID-19 cases surge
“Alagaan natin ang isa't isa mula sa kasalukuyang surge ng COVID-19 cases sa ating mga komunidad. Magsuot ng mask at patuloy na sundin ang mga safety protocol. Ingat po ang lahat (Let us take care of each other during this current surge of COVID-19 in our communities. Wear a mask and continue following the safety protocols. Take care everybody),” she said.
Robredo revived her Swab Cab initiative to augment the country’s testing capacity amid the current surge, which is supposedly being fueled by the Omicron variant.
On Saturday, Jan. 8, the country logged 26,458 new COVID-19 cases, a new record-high. The positivity rate of 43.7 percent is also a record-high.