Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 31) — The government is targeting to introduce pooled testing in villages which are placed under a strict quarantine policy, coronavirus task force spokesman Harry Roque said Friday.
“Inaasahan po natin na ito ay gagamitin po natin sa mga localized na mga barangay na na-lockdown,” Roque said during President Rodrigo Duterte’s recorded address that aired on Friday morning.
[Translation: We are expecting to use this method in villages under localized lockdown.]
Roque said the Department of Health is now validating results of the pilot study of the pooling method — with he said involves mixing at least 10 samples for a single test.
“So ang isang milyong testing kits natin pupuwedeng ma-test ang 10 million,” he added.
[Translation: So 1 million test kits could test 10 million.]
Under pooled testing, samples collected from a group of people are tested in a batch using one test. It is expected to significantly increase the testing capacity of the country using fewer resources.
Officials explained that if a batch of 10 people tests negative, that means they are all negative for the virus. If the pool is positive, it means one or more persons in that batch may be infected, so each individual will be tested again.
