Calls at One Hospital Command have doubled amid rise in COVID-19 cases

Health Undersecretary Leopoldo Vega. PRESIDENTIAL FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — Calls at the Philippines’ hospital referral center have doubled in the last week of December amid the sharp increase in new COVID-19 cases, the country’s treatment czar said Sunday.

Health Undersecretary Leopoldo Vega said the One Hospital Command received a higher number of calls at the conclusion of 2021 from just at least 80 calls at the start of December.

“Pag-apak nitong last week ng December, napapansin na ng One Hospital Command na talagang tumataas na ‘yung COVID-19 calls, inquiries about COVID, kasi alam natin na tumataas ang bilang ng kaso mula nitong last week ng December hanggang ngayon. Tumaas na rin ang number of calls about COVID and referrals,” he said in an interview with DZBB.

(When we approached the last week of December, the One Hospital Command noticed that calls concerning COVID-19 have increased. We know that COVID-19 cases have went up in December until now. The number of calls and referrals about COVID-19 also rose.)

“’Yung first week of December, siguro nagkakaroon na lang ng calls ang One Hospital Command ng COVID cases, or COVID calls, na mga 80 to 100, pero ngayon, lately, sa mga last few days ng December, tumaas na po ito, umaabot na naman siya ng 150 to 200 calls. Dahan dahan talagang tumataas. Doble yung calls ngayon,” Vega added.

(During the first week of December, the One Hospital Command was only having 80 to 100 calls but in the last few days of December, this increased to 150 to 200 calls. It is gradually increasing and is now double the previous number of calls.)

The country has been seeing an increase in the number of new COVID-19 cases in recent days. From just less than 500 new cases per day in early December, the country recorded 3,617 new cases on Saturday, with a positivity rate of 14.8 percent.

The sharp increase in cases comes as the Department of Health (DOH) confirms 11 imported cases and three local cases of the highly transmissible Omicron variant of COVID-19. With the detection of local cases, the DOH noted the “high possibility” of the local transmission of the said variant of the virus.

JPV