MANILA – The Department of Health on Monday said the country now has a total 192 licensed coronavirus diseases 2019 (Covid-19) testing laboratories nationwide that have tested more than 5.8 million Filipinos for the disease.
As part of the prevent and detect pillars under the Prevent-Detect-Isolate-Treat-Reintegrate strategy of the government against Covid-19, the DOH has placed importance on strengthening the nation’s testing capacity.
“As of today, every region has a licensed RT-PCR laboratory. Meron na po tayong (We already have) 147 real-time RT-PCR laboratories and 45 GeneXpert laboratories across the nation,” Health Secretary Francisco T. Duque III said.
He said the two laboratory types process both reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests but only differ on how the laboratory samples are processed.
“Bukod pa rito (Aside from these), there are 55 laboratories applying for accreditation that are already on Stages 3 and 4 or the compliance and proficiency testing stages. Eto po ay 68 percent ng kabuuang bilang ng mga laboratoryong nag-a-apply kaya makakaasa po tayo na mas lalawak pa ang testing capacity ng bansa (This is 68 percent of the total laboratories that applied and we expect to further boost the country’s testing capacity),” Duque said.
To date, DOH recorded a total of 6,236,830 cumulative samples tested and 5,874,023 individuals tested. Meanwhile, the cumulative positivity rate is at 8.7 percent as of Dec. 12.
While the DOH noted an increase in laboratories, Duque warned the public to still be cautious on the threat of the pandemic.
“Bagama’t patuloy na lumalawak ang ating kakayahan na ma-test ang mga close contact at mga symptomatic, mariin pa rin po naming ipinapaalala na your test result is not your immunity passport. Kahit negative ang result ng inyong swab test ay maaari pa rin po kayong mahawa kung hindi kayo mag-iingat (Though we increased our capacity to test close contacts and asymptomatic, we still remind that your test result is not your immunity passport. Though your swab test is negative, you can still contract virus if you are not careful),” Duque said.
Duque reminded the public to always observe the minimum public health standards such as wearing of face masks and face shields, washing of hands, and physical distancing.
“Sumunod din po tayo sa mga ordinansa na ipinapatupad ng national at lokal na pamahalaan. Manatili po tayong maingat sapagkat andito pa rin ang virus at (Let’s follow ordinances being implemented by the national and local governments. Let’s keep protecting ourselves because virus still here and) prevention is always better than cure,” he said.