Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 20) — The country is putting more resources on testing healthcare workers exposed to COVID-19.
Inter-Agency Task Force Spokesman Karlo Nograles said all 16 testing centers nationwide were ordered to allocate at least 20 percent of its testing capacity into processing the samples of medical frontliners.
“All subnational laboratories are directed to allocate between 20-30 percent of its daily testing capacity for health workers and the remaining 70-80 percent for patients,” Nograles said during a virtual briefing on Monday.
He detailed the content of the national government’s revised interim guidelines on expanded testing of suspected and probable cases. The national government still prioritizes testing patients and healthcare workers with severe symptoms and testing those belonging to the vulnerable sector who are exhibiting mild symptoms.
With the expanded testing, healthcare workers and other people with mild symptoms who have travel history and/or contact with a confirmed case, classified as Subgroup C, can also be tested.
“In view of the expansion of testing capacity and to ensure healthcare workforce safety, Subgroup C will be tested and healthcare workers will be prioritized,” Nograles said.
Healthcare workers with no symptoms but have “unprotected” exposure with a COVID-19 patient can be tested using rapid antibody test kits if no reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test kits are available.
More than 700 doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers in the country have contracted the coronavirus disease, the Department of Health said on April 17. This is a three-fold increase from the number it reported last week. A total of 22 health workers have died from the disease.
The Philippine Medical Association earlier said fewer health personnel would have died from COVID-19 had there been more personal protective equipment available to them. The government has since ordered one million sets of PPE which have been arriving in batches over the past two weeks.
