The country can now conduct 12,000 COVID-19 tests a day, enabling it to more quickly isolate and treat patients, the government said Friday as the number of confirmed infections rose to 10,463 with 120 new cases reported on May 8.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the rise in new cases was no cause for alarm as this reflected an improvement in the country’s testing capacity.
At the same time, 116 more patients recovered from COVID-19, bringing the total number of recoveries to 1,734. There were 11 new deaths, bringing total fatalities to 696.
Vergeire said the increase in recorded cases was a reflection of more aggressive testing, detecting and isolating probable and suspected cases of the novel coronavirus.
READ: COVID-19 Tracker: Philippines as of May 8, 2020
She said the move to clear backlogs in testing also led to an increase in the count of new cases.
In a televised briefing, the deputy chief implementer of the National Task Force Against COVID-19, Vince Dizon, said the government intends to conduct 5,000 tests a day in four swabbing centers in Pasay City, Taguig City and Bulacan.
By the end of May, the government will be able to conduct a total of 30,000 tests a day, he said.
Compared to other countries like the United States, Vergeire said, the Philippines has relatively fewer cases due to the timely interventions by the government, such as the early lockdown that started on March 17.
This, in turn, has stopped the health system from being overwhelmed.
Because of the low cases in the country, Vergeire stressed our health system has not been overwhelmed. “We have not yet reached that point where bodies of patients are being left on the road,” she said.
She said hospitals and health care workers can fully attend to COVID-19 patients to ensure their full recovery from the highly infectious disease.
READ: Vaccination still critical during pandemic—DOH
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said the government is constantly monitoring the global supply for test kits as it ramps up the country’s testing capacity.
He said the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM), the DOH and the Department of Budget and Management were working to obtain the testing supplies needed.
He said sometimes, they only get 25 percent of the supplies they order.
“We are really having difficulties here. We monitor this almost everyday,” Duque said.
DOH has been working towards an expanded testing or targeted testing, although it missed its goal of 8,000 tests per day by the end of April. It is now targetting to increase the country’s testing capacity for COVID-19 to 30,000 tests per day by the end of May, as this will be able to give a “complete picture” of the pandemic in the country and will enable the government to come up with policies suited to address the crisis.
Unlike mass testing, “expanded testing” or “targeted testing” intends to broaden the scope of tests to include and prioritize exposed but asymptomatic patients and healthcare workers.
Duque also said the number of its certifying teams is enough to process the application of laboratories to conduct coronavirus disease testing.
The DOH aims to accredit more than 50 more laboratories to have a total of 78 testing centers by the end of May.
Meanwhile, the DOH said it was too early to tell if Cebu province is the new epicenter of COVID-19 in the country after a spike in infections there.
Vergeire said a big portion of cases in Cebu came from enclosed facilities, like jails, which she called “clusters,” and transmission outside these clusters was low.
In other developments:
• Quezon City reported a total of 1,512 cases, up from 1,464 on Thursday. No new deaths were reported.
• National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) chief, Maj. Gen. Debold Sinas on Friday said 14 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been reported among its ranks. This brings the total number of Metro Manila cops who tested positive for COVID-19 to 47.
• The Philippine Consulate General in Dubai on Friday reported that 23 Filipinos have died of COVID-19 in Dubai, up by six from the 17 reported on May 6.
• The DOH said Remdesivir, which gained authorization from Japan and the US for the treatment of COVID-19, is part of the ongoing clinical trial in the Philippines. “Remdesivir is one of the investigational drugs included in the WHO Solidarity Trial, which the Philippines is participating in,” Vergeire said in a statement released Thursday night. She added this medicine has been developed initially for the possible treatment of Ebola and there had been some early evidence that this may reduce the duration of COVID-19 illness. Both US and Japan have approved the use of Remdesivir for the treatment of COVID-19 patients.
• Eastern Visayas finally has its own test center for COVID-19 after the Department of Health- Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (DOH-RITM) approved its first Molecular Laboratory on Friday, May 8. A certification issued by DOH Assistant Secretary Nestor Santiago. Jr, said the region’s test center at the old Eastern Visayas Regional Medical Center (EVRMC) in Tacloban can now perform independent testing for COVID-19 by Realtime PCR and provide official results. With Rio N. Araja, Ronald Reyes