Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 22) — A medical society said Friday there is ‘no choice but to sober up’ and accept the apology of Presidential adviser for entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion over his allegation that doctors who warned employers on the use of rapid antibody test for asymptomatic workers are doing nothing but ‘complain.’
Philippine Medical Association spokesman Oscar Tinio said the focus right now should be on the real enemy – coronavirus disease.
“Under the circumstances, there is no way but to accept the apology,” Tinio told CNN Philippines’ The Source.
“We cannot be fighting. We would like to make sure we win this war against COVID-19,” he added.
Two days ago, Concepcion criticized the collective stand of seven medical societies, including PMA, which said that having workers without COVID-19 symptoms undergo the rapid test is ‘not recommended’ as it could lead to false positive results. Rapid test cannot detect the presence of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.
He said, “Problema nitong mga doctor salita nang salita wala namang ginagawa, complain nang complain,” for which hours later he apologized after the public uproar.
[Translation: The problem with these doctors is they are all talk, no action. They keep on complaining.]
The PMA spokesman said the Presidential adviser may have just been disappointed that is why he said those things.
“Minsan gigil ka (Sometimes, you are frustrated). That is how things are.”
The PMA, the Philippine College of Physicians, the Philippine Society of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, the Philippine College of Occupational Medicine, the Philippine Society of Public Health Physicians, the Philippine Society of General Internal Medicine, and the Philippine Academy of Family Physicians recommend the ’14-day test’ as requirement for employees before they go back to work.
They said the test means that workers must have no COVID-19 symptoms for at least 14 days — “from the time of exposure to contacts, and from the time of relief of symptoms for suspect, probable, and confirmed cases.”
