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As the Philippines hit the 250,000 mark for coronavirus infections in 2019 (Covid-19) on Friday, the Department of Health (DoH) said it would issue testing guidelines next week that would be deemed appropriate for different groups.
At a press conference, the Undersecretary of Health, María Rosario Vergeire, said that the Inter-institutional Working Group for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) suggested that there should be “pathways” or algorithms for specific special populations, such as individuals locally stranded. o LSI, Filipinos returning abroad, domestic and international workers, and economic workers.
Vergeire said the Health Department was considering, among other things, antigen tests, which detect antibodies from people infected with SARS-CoV2, severe acute respiratory syndrome, coronavirus 2, the virus that causes Covid-19; and saliva testing, in which an individual suspected of having Covid swabs their mouth or is asked to gargle with saline before putting their saliva under a spectrometer.
She said these should not be used for indiscriminate testing and should follow the Health department’s guidelines on specific expanded testing.
The guidelines will also include contact tracing and case surveillance, Vergeire said.
Of the 252,964 infections recorded as of Friday, 62,250 cases are active, including 4,040 new ones that were collected from 111 of 117 labs across the country, the DoH said.
Of the active cases, 97.2 percent are mild and asymptomatic, while 2.8 percent are severe or critical.
A total of 186,606 people have recovered from the disease, including 566 on Friday.
The death toll has risen to 4,108, including 42 new deaths.
Vaccine updates
Meanwhile, Vergeire said the World Health Organization (WHO) would identify at least 34 possible vaccines those that would be used in the solidarity trial by the third or fourth week of September.
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