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MANILA, Philippines - Quezon City on Thursday launched a telemedicine system exclusively for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients.

In a statement, the local government said that the QC COVID Telemed program is an "online system where patients who are undergoing home quarantine or admitted in the city's HOPE community-caring facilities can consult their doctors without having to personally meet them."

The program shall also support healthcare workers who have high risks of exposure to COVID-19, Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte said.

"Through telemedicine, our doctors no longer need to physically visit their patients to do rounds. They can log on to the system and they can do online consultation with their patients," she explained.

This program, the local government added, is in partnership with the Department of Health (DOH).

In support of the program, the local government said that the DOH donated 15 laptops and desktops which will be distributed in HOPE facilities, as well as selected health centers in Quezon City.

The HOPE facilities serve as quarantine and treatment centers for possible and asymptomatic COVID-19 cases.

Currently, there are 202,361 COVID-19 cases in the Philippines, with 3,137 deaths and 133,460 recoveries.

Of the total number of cases nationwide, 10,404 were recorded in Quezon City, according to the latest COVID-19 tally provided by city government.

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QC launches COVID-19 telemedicine program

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MANILA, Philippines - Quezon City on Thursday launched a telemedicine system exclusively for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients. In a statement, the local government said that the QC COVID Telemed program is an "online system where patients who are undergoing home quarantine or admitted in the city's HOPE community-caring facilities can consult their doctors without having to personally meet them."

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The Quezon City government, through its Environmental Protection and Waste Management Department (EPWMD), has launched a plastic waste trading program where residents can exchange their recyclables into groceries.

'Trash to cashback' is the city's initiative, in partnership with Basic Environmental Systems and Technologies (BEST), that trades recyclables into 'environmental points' (EPs) which in turn can be exchanged for basic commodities such as rice, eggs and vegetables.

"The program's main objective is to promote to our QCitizens the importance of recycling and proper waste segregation. Kapag dinala nila sa ating Trash to Cashback kiosk ang kanilang recyclable materials, pwede nila itong ipalit sa grocery," Mayor Joy Belmonte said.

A My Basurero Eco-Community (MBE-C) kiosk has been set up at the QC Hall Risen Garden where employees can exchange their recyclable waste (plastic, paper, and metal) to environmental points, which can also be traded into groceries. It will soon be rolled out in barangays.

Interested traders have to create and register their email to BeepXTRA Philippines, BEST's Cashback Loyalty Platform partner, to earn EPs.

Aside from groceries, EPs can also be used in bXTRA food deliveries. A complete list of partner stores and establishments can be accessed through bXTRA.com.ph and bXTRAoutlet.delivery.

According to EPWMD head Andrea A. Villaroman, they are currently in talks with the city's Small Business Cooperatives Development and Promotions Office (SBCDPO) for the registration of micro and small businesses as partner merchants of bXTRA.

"If we have more partner merchants where residents can exchange their EPs, mas mahihikayat natin silang ipalit ang kanilang recyclable waste," Villaroman explained.

The program is also part of the city's campaign to reduce plastic waste, following the implementation of the plastic bag ban this month. Single-use plastics and utensils will also be prohibited starting on July 1, 2021.

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QC Launches 'trash To Cashback' Plastic Waste Trading Program | Quezon City Government

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The Quezon City government, through its Environmental Protection and Waste Management Department (EPWMD), has launched a plastic waste trading program where residents can exchange their recyclables into groceries. 'Trash to cashback' is the city's initiative, in partnership with Basic Environmental Systems and Technologies (BEST), that trades recyclables into 'environmental points' (EPs) which in turn can be exchanged for basic commodities such as rice, eggs and vegetables.

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Quezon City is situated on the northeast portion of Metro Manila. With an area of 16,112.58 hectares (based on 1995 GIS graphical plot), it occupies almost one-fourth of Metro Manila. It is the largest city among all the cities in the National Capital Region.

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Quezon city is the top populated and urbanized city in the country. According the PSA 2020 Census of Population and Housing, the city has a population of 2,960,048 – which is the largest population among all cities in the country. It also ranked first in DTI’s 2021 list of highly urbanized city in the country.

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It is obvious that most of us use one or more social media sites in our daily lives. For some people, it has been their primary source of information and news. That’s why for this technological advancement, it poses both positive and negative impacts on the issues.

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Based on the 2020 Labor Force Survey, an estimated 87.6% of the NCR population is in the labor force. However, it belonged to the list of regions which had an employment rate lower than the national average of 91.3%.

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Most of the specialty hospitals of the Department of Health are located in Quezon City.

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National Kidney and Transplant Institute

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National Kidney and Transplant Institute

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Deprivation: Lack of hospital space and healthcare workers during the COVID crisis.

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Deprivation: Lack of hospital space and healthcare workers during the COVID crisis.

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Even if the city is highly urbanized and has a lot of hospitals, it cannot be denied that during the peak of COVID cases, a lot of hospitals in the city were overwhelmed and went on full capacity. This caused an outrage for the residents as a lot of people were being denied admission, and some were admitted but were just placed on tents outside the hospitals. Furthermore, employees were overworked, underpaid, and had to deal with the negative comments from the public that just lead to more manpower exhaustion.

It is an issue that needs to be addressed because lives are at risk. If the deprivation continues, the healthcare system would decay and the health of the people would further deteriorate

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Deprivation: Lack of control in consumption.  

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Deprivation: Lack of control in consumption.  

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This issue is important to address because as the city continues to develop, the wastes produced by the people would also continue to grow if it’s not dealt with. As this city ranks 1 in the list of highly-urbanized city in the country, it is really expected that people consume more and more resources for their needs, especially when there is a lot of available produce or products for them. More often, people would prefer to use or consume a new product every now and then, rather than fully utilizing its life cycle.

If the people in this community remains to consume carelessly without taking into account the wastes they produce, the waste generation would just continue to multiply. In the future, there would be over-exhaustion of the resources if this habit of consumption persists.

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Quezon City constitutes almost one-fourth of Metro Manila so it will be evident that they are the largest waste producer in Metro Manila. Adding to that, it is also a highly-urbanized city, thus there is a high concentration of social and economic activities that would contribute to the city’s waste production.

According to the Ecological Solid Waste Management-NCR section of the DENR, the bulk of these wastes comes from residential use. Based on the Waste Analysis and Characterization Study (WACS) in 2013:

53.95% of the waste comes from biodegradable (food/ organic waste)

20.30% comes from recyclables (plastic, paper, glass, metals)

18.75% comes from residual wastes

7% from special wastes.

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With this data, we can see how the population, living standards, and urbanization would affect the consumption patterns of the community. We can also see here that just by reducing the biodegradable and recyclable wastes per household, we’ll also be significantly reducing the amount of waste produced.

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During the surge of the COVID cases in 2021, 25 of the 159 facilities in the NCR have reached the “critical levels” of over 85% occupancy. The original number of isolation rooms in Philippine hospitals are only around 10 rooms. The surge of cases forced hospitals to create temporary isolation spaces quickly in order to maintain the infection control. DOH mandated private hospitals to allocate 20% of their beds to COVID-19 patients. But even with that, it was still not enough to accommodate all of the patients. Because of the densely-built  metropolis, hospitals are usually right next to building or other facilities. This makes it hard to expand or build additional capacity for the hospitals.

The Private Hospitals Association of the Philippines estimated that 40% of private hospital nurses quit in 2019, and more have left following the new waves of infection in 2020. Nurses are said to be overworked – they are forced to have 12-hour shifts instead of the usual 8-hour shifts. Additionally, one nurse is responsible for 15 or more patients in the Covid ward.

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The pandemic paved a way for Telemedicine to become the new normal in the field. Consultations, follow-ups, medication prescription, and management of simple ailments are now possible virtually because of this technological advancement.

This helps non-COVID patients to have access to basic care without them going to actual hospitals. It takes away the risk of further exposing individuals to the virus. Telemedicine also facilitates proper home management for COVID patients who are asymptomatic or has mild symptoms. Most importantly, it decreases the volume of people being admitted in the hospital. This clears hospital space for patients with severe and emergency cases, and also support the health care professionals to have a "break".

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The Quezon City Government utilize their social media pages to convey important information to its residents. They often use their sites to promote safety precautions and encourage the residents to be vaccinated. And as we all know, when individuals follow the COVID-19 precautions – wear a mask, wash your hands, keep a safe distance, and get vaccinated – it highly reduces their risk of contracting the virus.

It positively impacts the issue of inadequate hospital space & staff as it lowers the population of those who will be needing hospitalization due to COVID-19. In a way, it serves as a tool for health education and disease prevention for the residents of the city.

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Social media networks are uncontrolled and unfiltered, thus, anyone can post anything they want. This gives a way to the rise of fake news, and because some people treat these sites as their primary source of information, many of them become misinformed. During the past year, I have seen so many false information circulating throughout Facebook regarding the COVID-19 virus. There were rumors that when people get tested on hospitals, it would automatically be a COVID case. Another is that when someone dies on the hospital, regardless of their COD, the hospital would still put COVID as the cause because they have this “COVID quota”.

This negatively affected the deprivation because a lot of people became sceptic of the virus, they became afraid to be tested, and was hesitant on being vaccinated. As a result, the risk of people contracting the virus with severe manifestations became higher. The rumors also steered the public into developing hostility against health care professionals. These factors just further aggravate the injury in the healthcare system.

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Mass production of different goods are now possible due to the advancement of machineries. Factories are now equipped with machines that can create thousands of essential goods per day. Because of this, there is an overproduction of goods and an oversupply in the market industry. As Quezon City becomes highly populated and urbanized, it is obvious that these mass produced goods are cheap and available in every corner of the city. And because there is a lot of supply, consumers don’t often take into account how much of these products they really need. They would often buy in large quantities and whenever there will be an excess, they would just discard it as it is very easy to purchase again. This process just leads to more resources being consumed and more waste products being produced.

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Residents can bring their segregated waste to the designated kiosks or centers in the city.

The acceptable wastes are different types of plastic, paper, and metals. The waste should be segregated and cleaned before the resident brings it in the center.

Depending on the type and weight of their items, they will earn Environmental Points (EP) which are transferred into their bXTRA account. This account is accessible through their website or mobile app, this serves as the "e-wallet" of the individual.

This EPs are converted into cashback points which can be used in redeeming grocery items, food items, and services of different partner outlets and businesses.

"Mr. Basurero" will collect the recyclables and will deliver it to their partner upcycling/recycling company so that these wastes get a second life.

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This program has a positive impact on the issue as it encourages residents to collect and segregate their waste rather than directly dumping it for the landfills. It helps emphasize the importance of recycling by actualizing the motto “may pera sa basura”. Other than helping the residents financially, it also impacts the environment greatly by reducing plastic, paper, and metal waste. It also introduce the residents to the circular economy - which is a step forward into building a community with a sustainable pattern of consumption and production.

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Philippine Statistics Authority. (2021). Highlights of the Philippine Population 2020 Census of Population and Housing. Retrieved from https://psa.gov.ph/population-and-housing/node/164811

Department of Trade and Industry. 2021 Rankings of Highly Urbanized City. Retrieved from https://cmci.dti.gov.ph/rankings-data.php?unit=Highly%20Urbanized%20Cities

Philippine Statistics Authority. (2021). Employment Situation in October 2020. Retrieved from https://psa.gov.ph/statistics/survey/labor-and-employment/labor-force-survey

Quezon City Government. (2018). Environmental Management Program. Retrieved from https://quezoncity.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Eco_Profile_2018_Chapter-5.pdf

Madarang, C. (2019). Over 9.2 million kilos of garbage produced in Metro Manila. Interaksyon by Philstar. Retrieved from https://interaksyon.philstar.com/politics-issues/2019/02/28/145000/garbage-metro-manila-bay-pollution-environment/

Senate Economic Planning Office. (2017). Philippine Solid Wastes At A Glance. Retrieved from https://legacy.senate.gov.ph/publications/SEPO/AAG_Philippine%20Solid%20Wastes_Nov2017.pdf

Araja, R. (2021). QC expands recycling ‘trash-to-cash’ program. Manila Standard. Retrieved from https://manilastandard.net/lgu/314024339/qc-expands-recycling-trash-to-cash-program.html

Moaje, M. (2021). QC 'trash for cash' to help residents earn, save environment. Philippine News Agency. Retrieved from https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1141557

BeepXTRA Philippines. (n.d.). Trash to Cashback. Retrieved from https://bxtraoutlet.delivery/trash-to-cashback/?playlist=d6a0bf2&video=60e9ee3

Ratcliffe, R. (2021). Raging Delta variant takes its toll as Philippines runs out of nurses. The Observer Philippines. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/aug/21/raging-delta-variant-takes-its-toll-as-philippines-runs-out-of-nurses

Hospital Management Asia. (2021). Space crunch: How this Philippine hospital overcame an isolation space shortage. Retrieved from https://hospitalmanagementasia.com/patient-safety/space-crunch-how-this-philippine-hospital-overcame-an-isolation-space-shortage/

Calleja, J. (2021). Hospital bed shortage sparks outrage in Philippines. UCA News. Retrieved from https://www.ucanews.com/news/hospital-bed-shortage-sparks-outrage-in-philippines/92219#

Reuters. (2021). Hundreds of Philippine hospitals near full capacity as virus cases surge. Retrieved from https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/hundreds-philippine-hospitals-near-full-capacity-virus-cases-surge-2021-08-09/

Morales, N. & Lema, K. (2021). Overwhelmed Philippines hospitals hit by staff resignations. Reuters. Retrieved from https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/overwhelmed-philippines-hospitals-hit-by-staff-resignations-2021-08-16/

Hallare, K. (2020). QC launches COVID-19 telemedicine program. Inquirer.Net. Retrieved from https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1327825/qc-launches-covid-19-telemedicine-program.