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QUALITY CONTROL Surgical masks are inspected in a laboratory administered by the Rosita Soliman Foundation before distribution to medical stores. MARIANNE BERMUDEZ
MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Health (DOH) was finally able to carry out more than 8,000 tests for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in one day after that original target failed for 10 days.
The undersecretary of Health, María Rosario Vergeire, said that on Sunday, the 26 accredited laboratories across the country were able to perform a total of 8,637 tests, bringing the current total number of tests carried out since February to 173,144.
This is the first time that DOH was able to process more than its 8,000 specific tests in one day as announced on April 30.
While Vergeire did not provide details on what was done to expand daily testing capacity, DOH data showed that the Tropical Medicine Research Institute (RITM) and the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) helped increase the numbers.
From May 6 to 9, the RITM averaged 603 tests, while the RPC had 1,786. On Sunday, the RITM processed 1,463 tests, while the PRC performed 3,686 tests.
Case update
As of Monday, there were 292 new registered cases of COVID-19 across the country, bringing the current total to 11,086. More than half of the cases, or 162, are in Metro Manila, while a quarter or 74 are in central Visayas.
There are now 1,999 patients who have recovered from COVID-19 with the latest addition of 75. However, the number of deaths is now 726, as seven more patients succumbed to the severe respiratory illness.
The percentage of healthcare workers who contracted the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19, decreased slightly to about 18 percent from 20 percent in the past two weeks. There are currently a total of 1,991 front-line doctors who tested positive for the virus, of whom 584 recovered and 34 died.
Although the country has seen a slight improvement in its testing capacity, Vergeire reminded the public that testing is not the government’s final strategy to respond to the COVID-19 outbreak.
“We can’t just focus on testing labs because we have to be able to do more than just know who is infected. That is why we continue to establish isolation centers across the country, ”he said at his online press conference on Monday.
“Early detection and isolation of new cases of COVID-19 is critical to managing potential outbreaks, especially as the government is considering gradually lifting quarantine measures,” he said.
ADB Assistance
To date, there were already a total of 41,634 beds in local government-run isolation centers, and 1,348 beds in government-run quarantines.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB), which participated in the press conference, said that in addition to establishing a COVID-19 laboratory at the José B. Lingad Memorial Regional Hospital in Pampanga province, it will also allocate around $ 125 million ( P6.3 billion) to help the Philippines “scale up the health response against COVID-19”.
According to ADB representative in the country, Kelly Bird, the amount would finance the construction of two state-of-the-art laboratories and the training of laboratory technicians.
“This project also includes scale tests and equipment supplies to be distributed to other public hospitals. It will also include the renovation and construction of new isolation rooms. [in] selected public hospitals It will be a comprehensive project that will support DOH in expanding its response, ”said Bird. INQ
For more news on the new coronavirus, click here.
What you need to know about the coronavirus.
For more information about COVID-19, call the DOH hotline: (02) 86517800 local 1149/1150.
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