Robredo calls for volunteers for teleconsult service as COVID-19 cases rise
MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Leni Robredo, who is running for president, on Friday said people who are worried they have COVID-19 may use her office's teleconsult service as she also called for more volunteers for Bayanihan E-Konsulta.
The Philippines has seen a dramatic rise in daily cases to 17,220 on Thursday from triple-digit tallies in the last week of December 2021. The rise in cases comes with reports of limited stocks of basic medicines like paracetamol and of people having trouble booking swab testing and medical services.
Robredo's office activated its free Swab Cab mobile testing initiative and the teleconsult service to help address the surge in cases. The service had been on a brief holiday break, according to its Facebook page.
"If you are feeling symptoms that you want to bring to a doctor, you can send a message to the E-Konsulta Facebook page so you don't have to go to the hospital," she said in Filipino.
Metro Manila and the provinces of Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna and Rizal are under the stricter Alert Level 3, where some activities are restricted.
Robredo said that qualified patients can be referred to partner hospitals for molnupiravir, an oral antiviral drug for COVID-19 that has been approved for patients at risk of severe illness.
The vice president said that the surge in cases will mean more people will need help through the teleconsult service and called for volunteers. She said that the service had 1,078 doctors and 3,156 non-medical volunteers during the surge in cases in Metro Manila in 2021.
"That is the kind of effort that we need to face this surge," she said.
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