PH NOW HAS 192 COVID-19 TESTING LABS; 5.8M INDIVIDUALS TESTED

File photo PH NOW HAS 192 COVID-19 TESTING

LABS; 5.8M INDIVIDUALS TESTED By Ma. Teresa Montemayor The Department of Health Reintegrate strategy of Secretary Francisco T. on Monday said the the government against Duque III said. country now has a total Covid-19, the DOH has He said the two 192 licensed coronavirus placed importance laboratory types process diseases 2019 (Covid-19) on strengthening the both reverse transcription testing laboratories nation’s testing capacity. polymerase chain nationwide that have “As of today, every reaction (RT-PCR) tests tested more than 5.8 region has a licensed RT- but only differ on how the million Filipinos for the PCR laboratory. Meron na laboratory samples are disease. po tayong (We already processed. As part of the have) 147 real-time RT- “Bukod pa rito (Aside prevent and detect PCR laboratories and 45 from these), there are 55 pillars under the Prevent- GeneXpert laboratories laboratories applying for Detect-Isolate-Treat- across the nation,” Health accreditation that are

already on Stages 3 and 4 or the compliance and proficiency testing stages. Eto po ay 68 percent ng kabuuang bilang ng mga laboratoryong nag-aapply kaya makakaasa po tayo na mas lalawak pa ang testing capacity ng bansa (This is 68 percent of the total laboratories that applied and we expect to further boost the country’s testing capacity),” Duque said. To date, DOH recorded a total of 6,236,830 cumulative samples tested and 5,874,023 individuals tested. Meanwhile, the cumulative positivity rate is at 8.7 percent as of Dec. 12. While the DOH noted an increase in laboratories, Duque warned the public to still be cautious on the threat of the pandemic. “Bagama’t patuloy na lumalawak ang ating kakayahan na ma-test ang mga close contact at mga symptomatic, mariin pa rin po naming ipinapaalala na your test result is not your immunity passport. Kahit negative ang result ng inyong swab test ay maaari pa rin po kayong mahawa kung hindi kayo mag-iingat (Though we increased our capacity to test close contacts and asymptomatic, we still remind that your test result is not your immunity passport. Though your swab test is negative, you can still contract virus if you are not careful),” Duque said. Duque reminded the public to always observe the minimum public health standards such as wearing of face masks and face shields, washing of hands, and physical distancing. “Sumunod din po tayo sa mga ordinansa na ipinapatupad ng national at lokal na pamahalaan. Manatili po tayong maingat sapagkat andito pa rin ang virus at (Let’s follow ordinances being implemented by the national and local governments. Let’s keep protecting ourselves because virus still here and) prevention is always better than cure,” he said. (DOH PR)