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MANILA – Many Filipinos are eager to conduct massive tests for COVID-19, but as the health department has repeatedly said, what will happen from April 14 is an “expanded test.”
At a press conference on Tuesday, the undersecretary of Health, María Rosario Vergeire, issued guidelines, as she warned the public not to go to the test centers.
Details to follow.
Here are the things we can expect with extended testing, based on previous DOH statements:
1. 3,000 DAILY TESTS
The government has said it plans to run 3,000 tests by April 14, and then 8,000 to 10,000 tests by the end of April.
To do this, the Health Department said Monday it was speeding up accreditation for the labs. Accreditation involves 5 stages: evaluation, validation or on-site evaluation by experts, staff training, proficiency testing or validation by RITM and large-scale implementation.
Until Monday, the undersecretary of Health, María Rosario Vergeire, said that the 15 certified laboratories are expected to increase, since it is assumed that 28 more will complete their evaluation by the end of the month.
“We will also give priority to the laboratories in Stage 1 and Stage 2 in Visayas and Mindanao,” he said.
Currently, most accredited laboratories are in Metro Manila, resulting in testing delays or delays in the rest of the country.
2. MASS BUT TEST BASED ON RISK
Vergeire also previously clarified that expanded testing will continue to be “risk-based,” meaning that priority will be given to those from the vulnerable population.
At the top of the list for testing are critically ill and severely symptomatic patients. Elderly patients with mild symptoms or patients with pre-existing medical conditions are also prioritized.
Healthcare workers are now also considered high-risk patients and will be prioritized.
3. VOLUNTEERS, MORE CHANGES
Vergeire said that starting April 14, they will also deploy 300 volunteer medical technologists, molecular biologists, laboratory technicians and researchers to help human laboratories.
There will also be more shifts in the labs to allow for continuous testing.
More equipment will also be brought to the laboratories. Some will be borrowed from academic institutions.
4. MORE TEST KITS
While the Philippines started with less than 5,000 test kits when the pandemic started, it now has more than 86,000 PCR test kits, according to DOH tracker COVID-19.
It is unclear if this already includes test kits developed by the National Institutes of Health at the University of the Philippines, but locally made kits are supposed to help increase testing capacity. The government purchased 26,000 initials and more than 90,000 will be sold commercially to private laboratories or donors.
5. NEW TECHNOLOGY
Vergeire also mentioned Monday that the Philippines is also awaiting delivery of 3,000 Cepheid GeneXpert cartridges, which have already been approved in the US. USA For the COVID-19 test.
It is compatible with existing GeneXpert machines, which have been used for tuberculosis testing.
Testing with this technology is supposed to be much faster than existing PCR tests, allowing more samples to be processed.
