As of May 18, there are already over 12,500 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country and although the count keeps growing every day, the government remains to have no program in place to carry out mass detection of the virus.

This was admitted by presidential spokesman Harry Roque in a briefing held on May 18 where he talked about the government’s limited capacity to conduct mass testing.

“Well, as much as possible po ano, mayroon tayong—ini-increase natin iyong capacity natin ng testing kaya nga we’re aiming na aabot tayo sa 30,000. Pero in terms of mass testing na ginagawa ng Wuhan na all 11 million, wala pa pong ganiyang programa at iniiwan natin sa pribadong sektor,” said Roque.

The government’s current target count of 30,000 daily tests was set after it missed its initial target of 8,000 daily tests by the end of April. As of writing, there are 30 laboratories in the country which use reverse transmission-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) kits to detect the virus. However, they run at limited capacity only.

Since March, calls for mass testing have been mounted on social media as local COVID-19 transmissions continued to rise. Aside from the efforts of local government units to conduct local testing within their own communities, the private sector has also stepped up with initiatives like Project ARK or Antibody Rapid Test Kits.

In addition to producing test kits for barangays to use, Project ARK will also hand out approximately 500,000 rapid test kits to companies as employees in Metro Manila return to work after restrictions had been relaxed in line with the modified enhanced community quarantine.

The initiative’s medical team chief Dra. Minguita Padilla also said that the private sector has garnered additional RT-PCR kits which will be used sparingly along with rapid test kits.

An advisory from the Department of Labor and Employment earlier in the day also ordered employers to shoulder the costs of COVID-19 prevention and control measures, including tests for their employees, as operations in workplaces resume.

Header photo via Inquirer.net

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