Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 30) – Authorities are looking into nearly doubling COVID-19 tests this August.
Testing czar and national task force deputy chief implementer Vince Dizon said Thursday that the target is to get 2 million people tested for the virus by end-August.
Dizon added that the 1.4 million goal for July has been surpassed, with 94 laboratories now operational. Data from the Department of Health showed 1.33 million tested as of July 28.
Up to 33,000 tests can also be done per day, he added, noting that the country is now second to South Korea among Asian nations in terms of tested members of the population. In a month, Dizon expects the Philippines to have tested the most number of people.
The Philippines’ population is twice as big as South Korea’s.
More people are now qualified for regular tests even without showing symptoms, such as waiters, tour guides, security guards, factory workers, and hotel receptionists under the state’s free, expanded testing module.
The government is also considering pooled testing, a strategy currently on pilot run, to substantially expand COVID-19 tests.
Pool testing involves the use of an algorithm and grouping specimens together for testing, with Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque saying that the swab samples of up to 10 people may be brought together in one reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test kit. If the test comes out negative, it means all of them are virus-free.
“Darating tayo sa punto na ang lahat ng gustong ma-test ay pwedeng ma-test kung matutuloy natin ang pooled testing [We will come to a point where anyone who wants to get tested can do so if we push through with pooled testing],” the Malacañang official said.
Roque clarified that this was what he meant when he told CNN Philippines on Wednesday that Metro Manila will be a “living experiment,” saying residents will be subject to this new method of COVID-19 tests. Instead, Metro Manila may be dubbed a “model” or “pilot” location.
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