DOH starts ‘One Hospital Command Center’ in Calabarzon as Delta cases rise to 406

LUCENA CITY––The Department of Health has established “One Hospital Command Center” (OHCC) in the Calabarzon region to strengthen the public health care system amid the ongoing threat of the highly transmissible COVID-19 Delta variant case.

Dr. Eduardo Janairo, DOH-Calabarzon director, explained that the OHCC is a “well-coordinated response and referral system that will manage all COVID-19 cases” in the region.

“We have established the OHCC in which we have a link to the health and medical services of our regional hospitals, particularly the Southern Tagalog Regional Hospital in Cavite and the Batangas Medical Center in Batangas,” said Janairo in a statement issued Sunday by DOH-Calabarzon.

He added: “Included in this network are the large public hospitals in the provinces of Laguna, Quezon, and Rizal to provide necessary health services to residents who test positive for the COVID-19 virus.”

The OHCC was created through Section 7 of the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act, which states that “there shall be a COVID-19 national referral system to provide patients a fast and efficient way to locate and avail of services from health facilities.”

The DOH also issued Department Order No. 2020-0653, which states that OHCC should facilitate coordination between health facilities and healthcare provider networks and streamline the referral and transfer of COVID-19 cases.

As of Sept. 16, the DOH Calabarzon Regional Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit recorded 406 Delta variants, with Laguna having the highest number of cases with 112 followed by Cavite, 99; Rizal, 83; Batangas, 65; Quezon, 33; and Lucena City, 14.

Authorities revealed that most of the sources of Delta infection come from the local transmission, with 355 cases.

Laguna topped the list with 102 Delta variant cases from local transmission followed by Cavite, 82; Rizal, 78; Batangas, 52; Quezon, 28; and Lucena City, 13.

Forty-one Delta variant cases came from returning overseas workers, with Cavite topping the list with 17; Batangas, 13; Rizal and Quezon with five each; and Lucena City, one case.

The rest of the cases were being verified.

The DOH-Calabarzon did not indicate the Delta variant patients who have recovered, died, or admitted to medical facilities.

Janairo emphasized that COVID-19 patients admitted to government health facilities in remote areas need not worry as the DOH had been conducting telemedicine consultations since 2018.

He said the most recent addition is the tele-ICU (Intensive Care Unit) system placed at Quezon Medical Center in Lucena to monitor critical COVID patients. It is also designed to protect healthcare workers from possible infection by reducing exposure.

Janairo said the DOH medical and health care workers in the region continue to conduct mass antigen and RT-PCR (reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction) testing to prevent the spread of the virus.

Last month, the DOH-Calabarzon initiated “Project DELTA” (Detect Early Local Transmission through Antigen Testing), a mass antigen testing to all identified close contacts of confirmed COVID-19 Delta variant cases in the region to prevent the spread of the virus.

lzb