{"id":259850,"date":"2020-06-30T09:27:58","date_gmt":"2020-06-30T13:27:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=259850"},"modified":"2020-06-30T09:27:58","modified_gmt":"2020-06-30T13:27:58","slug":"malacanang-defends-use-of-rapid-tests-for-lsis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2020\/06\/30\/malacanang-defends-use-of-rapid-tests-for-lsis\/","title":{"rendered":"Malaca\u00f1ang defends use of rapid tests for LSIs"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Citing findings of the Johns Hopkins University in the US, Roque said it is wrong to underestimate the usefulness of rapid anti-body test kits, stating that they could detect the presence of antibodies in an individual\u2019s blood or serum even before symptoms of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) start to show. (Pexels file photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MANILA<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Malaca\u00f1ang on Tuesday defended the use of rapid anti-body test kits for locally stranded individuals (LSIs) before they are sent back to their respective hometowns.<\/p>\n

\u201cHindi po totoo \u2018yan na palibhasa rapid test lang, hindi<\/em>\u00a0accurate (It\u2019s not true that just because we use rapid tests, it means they are not accurate),\u201d Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said in a virtual presser.<\/p>\n

Citing findings of the Johns Hopkins University in the US, Roque said it is wrong to underestimate the usefulness of rapid anti-body test kits, stating that they could detect the presence of antibodies in an individual\u2019s blood or serum even before symptoms of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) start to show.<\/p>\n

\u201cKung titingnan niyo ho ang<\/em>\u00a0IgM (immunoglobulin)\u00a0ng<\/em>\u00a0rapid testing, between day zero \u2013\u00a0ibig sabihin miski wala ka pang sintomas \u2013 hanggang<\/em>\u00a0all the way to 35 days (If you look at the IgM of rapid testing, it can be detected between day zero, which means even before symptoms show, until 35 days),\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Roque noted that while polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing is considered the \u201cgold standard\u201d in Covid-19 testing, they could only successfully detect the virus from three to seven days from the onset of the disease.<\/p>\n

“Bagamat sinasabi natin na<\/em>\u00a0gold standard\u00a0ang<\/em>\u00a0PCR,\u00a0epektibo lang siya kapag ang<\/em>\u00a0test\u00a0ay mula<\/em>\u00a0three days from the onset of the disease until seven days.\u00a0\u2018Yun yung pinaka<\/em>-accurate\u00a0na resulta niya<\/em>\u00a0(Even if we say that PCR is the gold standard, it is only effective if the test is conducted three days from the onset of the disease until seven days. That\u2019s when the results are most accurate),\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The PCR test kits use nose and throat swab samples to find out whether a person is infected with Covid-19 while rapid anti-body test kits use blood samples, which are unable to detect the virus but instead measures a patient\u2019s antibodies through the sample.<\/p>\n

These tests are still subjected to PCR confirmatory tests.<\/p>\n

Roque, however, explained that although LSIs undergo rapid anti-body testing in Metro Manila, they also undergo PCR testing and mandatory quarantine once they arrive in their respective hometowns.<\/p>\n

According to him, about 6,000 LSIs are expected to be sent back to their hometowns during the first week of July.<\/p>\n

LSIs were temporarily transferred to the Villamor Airbase Elementary School and the Philippine State College of Aeronautics while waiting for a bus or plane ride home.<\/p>\n

Roque also assured that the government and private sector would accelerate their testing capacity by end of July to help achieve a positivity rate of 3 percent.<\/p>\n

\u201cImportante po na madamihan pa talaga natin ang mga<\/em>\u00a0test\u00a0na ginagawa natin ngayon<\/em>\u00a0(It is important that we increase the number of tests we carry out),\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

On Monday, the government temporarily suspended the entry of LSIs in at least five areas due to the limited number of quarantine facilities that can accommodate them.<\/p>\n

The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) has issued a moratorium on sending home LSIs to Western Visayas, Eastern Visayas, and Caraga regions; Cebu Island; and Mactan.<\/p>\n

More than 34,000 LSIs have been sent to their respective hometowns through the \u201cHatid Tulong\u201d program.<\/p>\n

The \u201cBalik Probinsya, Bagong Pag-Asa\u201d program has been temporarily suspended to prioritize assisting LSIs in Metro Manila.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MANILA\u00a0\u2013 Malaca\u00f1ang on Tuesday defended the use of rapid anti-body test kits for locally stranded individuals (LSIs) before they are …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":256679,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-259850","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-news-ph","mauthors-azer-parrocha","mauthors-philippine-news-agency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259850","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=259850"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259850\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":259851,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259850\/revisions\/259851"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/256679"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=259850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=259850"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=259850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}