ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider 'Hit-and-miss' antigen tests not advisable in addressing worsening COVID-19 situation -- Binay

'Hit-and-miss' antigen tests not advisable in addressing worsening COVID-19 situation -- Binay

Published Mar 31, 2021 03:58 pm

Senator Nancy Binay on Wednesday, March 31 urged the government to review its current testing policies on COVID-19 saying it’s plan to use rapid antigen test kits in an effort to ramp up coronavirus testing in the country might not be enough.

Senator Nancy Binay
(Senate of the Philippines / FILE PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN)

Binay said the use of antigen tests is a “hit-and-miss” testing strategy and spending money to procure these tests would be better spent on more reliable testing methods.

The government earlier announced it plans to procure 500,000 antigen test kits to boost its COVID-19 screening activities in the National Capital Region (NCR) plus bubble. 

“With dwindling resources, the government must use its money wisely and sparingly,” Binay said in a post on Twitter.

The senator also said the use of rapid antigen tests could do more harm than good since it’s not reliable in detecting asymptomatic cases.

She also pointed out that even medical experts had warned against over reliance on these tests as it could lead people into a false sense of security.

“Antigen only detects infectiousness, not the infection. it can only scan high viral loads, but it’s not reliable for those who are asymptomatic. In other words, it can do more harm than good,” she said.

Binay said the use of the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests—known as the gold standard in COVID-19 testing—seems to be best option.

“I think the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) and the Department of Health (DOH) should seriously consider its testing policies. For one, antigen may not be the better option as far as mass testing or individual testing is concerned because there are many instances that they give off false negative results,” she said.

“The close to a billion peso price tag for consumable quick fix testing would go to waste, so why not just use the money to build more RT-PCR centers and facilities,” she pointed out.

Binay said the price of an antigen kit ranges between P750 to P1,500 per unit. With 500,000 kits to be procured, the government could be spending anywhere between P375-million and P750-million for greater NCR alone.

While the use of antigen tests may be convenient and the waiting time is shorter, the lawmaker said she believes it would be more practical for the government to spend on reliable COVID-19 testing systems.

Currently, only those who tested positive through RT-PCR tests are considered as confirmed COVID-19 cases. 

“Maybe the government should consider giving additional support for more Red Cross ‘saliva testing’ in key areas to also hasten the processing of the results,” she stressed. 

In February this year, the Philippine Red Cross started rolling out the cheaper and non-invasive COVID-19 saliva testing, which still employs the RT-PCR technique.The cost of saliva testing is priced at P2,000, which is P1,800 cheaper than the swab testing

ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.