FILE PHOTO: Colorized scanning electron micrograph of an apoptotic cell (greenish brown) heavily infected with SARS-COV-2 virus particles (pink), also known as novel coronavirus, isolated from a patient sample. Image captured and color-enhanced at the NIAID Integrated Research Facility (IRF) in Fort Detrick, Maryland. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, NIH/Handout via REUTERS.
MANILA, Philippines — The VRP Medical Center (VRPMC) in Mandaluyong City has suspended face-to-face consultations from March 22 to April 4 following a surge in COVID-19 cases.
In an announcement posted over the VRPMC’s Facebook page on Monday, it read that the directive was made as to the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging infectious Diseases’ (IATF) decision to place Metro Manila, Bulacan, Rizal, Cavite and Laguna under general community quarantine (GCQ) from March 22 to April 4.
The decision, the VRPMC added, was also due to the “increasing number of affected healthcare workers reaching critical levels.”
“The VRPMC administration is taking the initiative to close the VRPMC physician center and all face-to-face consultations from March 22, 2021 to April 4, 2021,” the announcement read.
In place of face-to-face consultations, the VRPMC said that consultations through the telemedicine app eSeeDoc “will not be affected and is highly encouraged.”
Metro Manila and the four adjacent provinces were placed on GCQ due to rising COVID-19 cases in the country, Palace spokesman Harry Roque said.
Meanwhile, Department of Health spokesperson and undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said that the the COVID-19 variants first detected in the United Kingdom and South Africa are already present in all Metro Manila cities, thus contributing to the uptick in coronavirus cases.
On Monday, the Philippines recorded 8,019 new COVID-19 cases—an all-time high in single-day increase of infections—bringing the country’s total to 671,792.