
The country's COVID-19 referral system has been receiving fewer calls recently amid the decreasing number of coronavirus infections nationwide.
One Hospital Command Center (OHCC) Medical Officer Dr. Marylaine Padlan said they were receiving at least 200 to 300 calls every day. This was in contrast to about 1,000 calls they were receiving during the surge in COVID-19 cases last month.
“Sa regions naman po na tumatawag po sa amin dito sa National OHCC, it’s mostly from, still, NCR (National Capital Region) and Region IV-A (The National OHCC mostly receives calls from NCR and Region IV-A),” said Padlan on Friday, Feb. 4.
“Pero sa ating mga Regional OHCC, ang mga may naitalang mataas na tawag or request is from Region XI, Region I, and Region VIII po (In our Regional OHCC, the high number of calls were from Region XI, Region I,and Region VIII),” she added.
Most of the calls they were getting were requests for isolation facilities and hospital admission. They were also getting inquiries about protocols for quarantine and isolation as well as vaccination, said Padlan.
“Compared po doon sa last two weeks ng January, ‘di hamak po na bumaba na rin po iyong request natin na mga health care workers na nagri-request for isolation (Compared to the last two weeks of January, healthcare workers requesting for isolation have also dropped significantly),” she added.
Despite the decreasing number of COVID-19 cases, Padlan urged the public to still strictly follow the health protocols.
“Patuloy pa rin ang laban natin against COVID-19. So ang gagawin lang po natin patuloy lang po tayo sa pagsunod sa mga health protocol (Our fight against COVID-19 is still ongoing. So, all we have to do is continue to follow the health protocols),” she said.
“Kapag anytime po na nagka-symptoms, please do know that—na katuwang ninyo ang community ninyo rin in facing COVID-19. So please do inform your BHERT (barangay health emergency response team) kung kailangan ninyo ng gabay, kailangan ninyo ng tulong please do not hesitate to call One Hospital Command Center using our hotlines po (If you have symptoms, please do know that your community is also with you in facing COVID-19. So, please do inform your BHERT if you need guidance. If you need help, please do not hesitate to call the One Hospital Command Center),” she added.