Nagmula na mismo kay National Task Force Deputy Chief Implementer and Testing Czar Vince Dizon nitong Miyerkules, Setyembre 1, na hindi sapat ang coronavirus disease (COVID-19) testing capacity ng bansa.
Sa isang briefing, ibinahagi ni Dizon na umaabotsa 80,000 ang COVID-19 testing sa bansa na mayroong70,000daily tests average, ngunit inamin nito na hindi pa rin sapat ang kapasidad.
“To the question is it enough? I don’t think it’s enough to be honest. But what we have to understand is we always follow the advice of our experts that we cannot just test shotgun. Meaning, we’ll just test without basis,”sabi ni Dizon.
“It needs to be risk-based, it needs to be based on the guidelines that have been approved by our experts and by the Department of Health (DOH), dagdag niya.
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Binanggit naman ni Dizon na magpapatuloy ang bansa sa risk-based approach ng COVID-19 detection na layong ma-test ang mga symptomatic, close contacts sa COVID-19 patients at mga asymptomatic, at mga residente sa mga lugar na classified bilang high risk.
“The reason is not just based in science, but this is a practical issue. It’s very easy to say let’s test 150,000 a day. However, at the current price of each RT-PCR, with the lowest probably P2,000, if we will test, for example, 10 percent of our population daily, then we would need to test 10 million Filipinos daily. P2,000 times 10 million, that’s P20 billion per day,”pagpapaliwanag ng test czar.
“At this rate already, we are already spending P160 million a day from the pockets of our citizens who are paying for the tests and from PhilHealth. Napakalaking pondo po nito,”dagdag niya.
Ani pa ni Dizon, “outrageous” ito dahil wala umanong sapat na pondo ang gobyerno para palakasin ang testing capacityngbansa.
“Maybe we should also consider practical and on-ground implications. Every time we need to test, contact trace, isolate, vaccinate, we’re spending money.”
Gabriela Baron
