Amid efforts to balance the containment of the coronavirus and revive the economy, the government is set to conduct 10 million tests that will cover other frontliners and those not showing symptoms of the disease.
The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases has approved the “expansion of the testing strategy” to fully use the 10 million tests recently procured by the government, according to presidential spokesman Harry Roque.
The expanded testing was recommended by the national task force on the government’s coronavirus response in consultation and coordination with the Department of Health-Technical Advisory Group and the Philippine Health Insurance Corp.
“Kasama na sa ite-test ay hindi lang mga symptomatic at hindi lang ‘yung nagkaroon ng contact sa mga mayroong COVID-19. Kasama na rin po ang asymptomatic. Posibleng makasama na rin ang ibang frontliners gaya ng media,” Roque said during the “Laging Handa” public briefing yesterday. “Ite-test na rin natin ‘yung ibang ahensya ng gobyerno na nagsisilbing frontliners,” he added.
The government is expected to issue the testing targets and implementation items and timelines for the expanded testing strategy. The new testing guidelines will be prepared and finalized by the NTF and the Health department.
Presidential peace adviser Carlito Galvez Jr. recently announced that the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management bought 230,857 reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction test kits that can approximately test 8,544,282 individuals. An additional 15,700 RT-PCR test kits that can test 1,293,750 individuals have also been procured.
As of July 2, the country has recorded 38,805 cases of coronavirus with 10,673 recoveries and 1,274 deaths.
Meanwhile, the government will embark on the second phase of the national action plan, including zoning containment strategy and expanded testing and contact tracing efforts, to curb the coronavirus outbreak and stimulate economic activity. (Genalyn Kabiling)
