A group of volunteer-doctors came out with a do-it-yourself (DIY) video that provides a “don’t panic” medical advisory to people who might be experiencing mild to moderate symptoms of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection. The volunteer doctors are alumni members of the University of the Philippines (UP) College of Medicine and the state-run Philippine General Hospital (PGH).
They are also involved in manning the PGH tele-consultation triage center called as Bayanihan National Operations Center (BNOC) that offers “free” tele-medicine consultations, with 186 doctor-volunteers ready to respond to calls from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. One of them, Dr. Minguita Padilla, proudly announced them last Wednesday in our Zoom Webinar of Kapihan sa Manila Bay.
According to Dr. Padilla, people who feel COVID-like symptoms can call up 155-200 for tele-consult with PGH-BNOC. Doctors are on the other end of the telephone to respond to their questions and concerns. Calling up the PGH Bayanihan free tele-consult, she cited, could get one’s condition assessed immediately to determine if hospital care is required or not.
Dr. Padilla is the co-convenor of former DOH Secretary Dr. Esperanza Cabral in the Doctors for Truth and Public Welfare advocating for the government to act with “more sense of urgency and transparency” and speed up anti-COVID vaccination. It also calls for the adoption of “more forward-looking” measures than reacting belatedly,…
