Telemedicine still in use as number of Covid home isolated patients dips

The number of calls made by volunteer doctors and other health professionals to Covid-19 home isolated patients using the city’s ‘Bantay Covid’ telemedicine digital platform totaled 2,086 as of March 7 this year.

This was disclosed by  Health Services  Office (HSO) head Dr. Rowena Galpo during the regular management committee meeting of city officials, March 8, headed by Mayor Benjamin Magalong at the Baguio Convention Center.

She said that at present, the  number of home isolated patients in the Summer Capital due to Covid-19 is only 13 as compared to 1,898 last January 24 as  infections in the city continues to decline prompting the IATF-EID to put the city under Alert Level 1, the lowest alert status, since February 1.

The telemedicine platform currently has 153 registered users, Galpo disclosed, as compared to only 48 in January 24.

Earlier, Mayor Benjamin Magalong explained that the free digital program was based on a similar program of Quezon City and was modified to fit the needs of local residents and spearheaded by the HSO in collaboration with the City Mayor’s Office’s Management Information and Technology Division and the Baguio-Benguet Medical Society.

The Mayor said the system will allow those who are under home quarantine to interact with doctors and other health professionals and feel the concern of the local government.

The telemedicine app will also act as a monitoring device that will check on the progress of patients and gather appropriate data, he added. – Gaby B. Keith