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MANILA, Philippines – Six hospitals joined the private sector initiative to determine the extent of coronavirus infections in the country on Saturday, signing an agreement with presidential startup adviser Joey Concepcion to increase their capacity for reaction-based testing polymerase chain (PCR).
The new associated hospitals are the Visayas Central Center for Health Development in Cebu, the Dr. José Natalio Rodríguez Memorial Medical Center in Caloocan, the Philippine Medical Center for Children (PCMC) in Quezon City, the University of Perpetual Help Delta in Las Piñas, the Quirino Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City and Zamboanga City Medical Center.
Concepción got the hospitals on board as founder of the business defense group Go Negosyo. The association with the hospitals is under the Go Negosyo Ark Project (rapid antibody test kits), a private sector initiative led by Concepción that aims to promote some 30,000 tests per day.
Experience
So far, the ARK Project has purchased more than 1 million rapid test kits for 177 partner companies.
Former Iloilo Health Secretary and now Representative Janette Garin, who is also part of the project, said her goal is to decongest the Tropical Medicine Research Institute and reduce the cost of testing for the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19 ).
Garin said the partner hospitals were chosen based on their location and their experience with coronavirus disease, among other factors.
“Because COVID-19 appears to be lurking in the bodies of patients with comorbidities, we consider it appropriate to set up a laboratory at PCMC to screen other patients at nearby hospitals,” Garin said, citing one of the hospitals.
“[The PCMC] It is also located in downtown Quezon City, where the social welfare department and other government agencies are located, with employees who are also front-line, “he added.
Virus update
On Saturday, the Health Department said the number of COVID-19 cases across the country reached 10,610, as 147 new cases were registered.
Most of the new cases, or 123, are from Metro Manila.
There are 108 more patients recovered, bringing the total to 1,842.
However, the death toll rose to 704 when eight more patients succumbed to COVID-19.
Healthcare workers still account for 1 in 5 cases, as there are now 1,968 front-line doctors who tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19. At least a quarter of them, or 508, have recovered while 34 have died.
Vaccination
The Philippine Vaccination Foundation (PFV) urged the government to think of safeguards to ensure that the deployment of future COVID-19 vaccines does not face strong resistance from the public.
Previously, DOH attributed the country’s decline in vaccination coverage to the controversy surrounding the Dengvaxia dengue vaccine.
The department was forced to halt its dengue inoculation program in 2017 after Dengvaxia maker Sanofi Pasteur revealed that it caused severe dengue among patients without prior exposure to the dengue virus.
With the subsequent drop in vaccination coverage, the country saw the emergence last year of vaccine-preventable diseases, such as measles and polio.
– REPORTS BY MARIEJO S. RAMOS AND JOVIC YEE
For more news on the new coronavirus, click here.
What you need to know about the coronavirus.
For more information on COVID-19, call the DOH hotline: (02) 86517800 local 1149/1150.
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