Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 5) — The Health Department on Monday said only results from antigen tests coming from Metro Manila and four nearby provinces will be counted in the government’s daily COVID-19 case tally.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said antigen tests are effective in detecting COVID-19 infections in areas with high virus transmission, which makes it ideal for use in Metro Manila, Rizal, Bulacan, Cavite, and Laguna — dubbed as NCR Plus.
“Ang isasama lang sa case bulletin ang magfi-fit ng definition natin sa paggamit nito — sa mga communities dito sa NCR Plus bubble dahil alam natin mataas ang transmission dito,” she said.
[Translation: We will only include those that will fit our definition. These are the communities in the NCR Plus bubble because the transmission is high here.]
She said COVID-19 testing using the RT-PCR swab tests increased in March by as much as 63% compared to February, adding this will go up further with the use of antigen test kits.
The government said 30,000 antigen tests will be rolled out daily in areas with high COVID-19 transmission, including hospitals and densely-populated communities. DOH said the test cannot be used to screen employees heading back to work, or when allowing people to enter establishments. Nor should it be used for border control, pre-travel testing, or testing general contacts that have no symptoms, the DOH said in another advisory.
An antigen test detects the presence of a specific viral antigen, which implies current infection, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Such test can use nasal or nasopharyngeal samples, with results available in around 15 minutes.
