Robredo, medical experts discuss ways to curb rising COVID-19 cases in CamSur

Vice President Leni Robredo in San Fernando town in Camarines Sur on Feb. 12, 2020. (File photo from her Facebook account)

MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Leni Robredo met with several doctors and medical experts in Naga, Camarines Sur, to discuss possible solutions to the rising COVID-19 cases in the city and province.

Information from the Office of the Vice President on Tuesday said that Robredo vowed to expand its Bayanihan E-Konsulta variant for the Bicol Region, the Bayanihan E-Ataman, to cover the needs of the people in Camarines Sur.

The Bayanihan E-Konsulta is a telemedicine avenue for people where they could consult doctors and other healthcare workers about their medical condition through Facebook messenger, thus preventing overcrowding in hospitals and lowering the exposure for non-COVID-19 ailments.

“Vice President Leni Robredo on Monday, June 6, 2021, met with doctors and representatives of various hospitals to explore ways to address the recent spike of COVID-19 cases in Naga City and other parts of Camarines Sur,” OVP said in a statement.

“According to VP Leni, the OVP is set to expand its Bayanihan E-Ataman initiative to cover the entire province, following its ongoing run in the third district of Camarines Sur,” the office added.

Robredo said in the meeting with representatives from Bicol Medical Center, Mother Seton Hospital, NICC Doctors Hospital, Bicol AccessHealth Centrum Hospital, St. John Hospital, Camarines Sur Medical Society, Philippine Medical Society, and other medical experts, that it would need a whole of community approach to counter the surge.

As per the Department of Health (DOH) numbers for Monday, there are 15,958 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the whole Bicol Region, of which 1,817 are active cases.  Of this number, 4,672 confirmed cases and 434 active cases are from Camarines Sur.

That means 29 percent of all confirmed cases and 23 percent of the active infections can be found in Camarines Sur.

”As we have learned from our recent experiences, it would take a whole of community approach to stop the surge,” Robredo said.

On Monday, Health Secretary Francisco Duque explained that despite cases in the National Capital Region (NCR) going down, and plateauing for neighboring provinces, the country’s daily increase in infections remain on the 6,000 to 7,000 mark because other areas were experiencing surges too.

Prior to June, Metro Manila and adjacent provinces of Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal were under an enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) and then a modified ECQ (MECQ) due to a surge blamed on COVID-19 variants of concern.

During the surge inside the NCR plus, the country saw daily COVID-19 cases jump to 10,000 to 15,000 in a day, while active infections peaked at over 200,000 at one point.

JE