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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider People afraid of COVID-19 but also high cost of getting tested - Gatchalian

People afraid of COVID-19 but also high cost of getting tested - Gatchalian

Published Mar 21, 2021 02:19 pm

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian on Sunday renewed his push for the
government to make coronavirus disease (COVID-19) testing more affordable and easily accessible to local government units (LGUs).

(JANSEN ROMERO / MANILA BULLETIN)

Gatchalian made the call after the Department of Health (DOH) reported
a 7,999 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, exceeding the numbers in
August 2020.

The senator said lowering the price of testing would encourage more
people to test for COVID-19, noting that many Filipinos refuse to
consult with a doctor due to the prohibitive cost of a swab test.

The senator also said it would be best for the government task force
for COVID-19 to promote more the use of coronavirus saliva testing
introduced by the Philippine Red Cross, since this is cheaper than
swab testing.

“Korek, gawing abot-kaya at abot sa mga (That’s right, let’s make it
affordable and cheaper for our) local governments. Napakaganda po yung
saliva test ng Red Cross dahil sa mabilis siya at mas mura (The Red
Cross’ saliva test is also good because that is faster and cheaper),”
Gatchalian said in an interview over DZRH.

He noted that the Department of Health (DOH) has also promoted the use
of saliva testing though it still holds the polymerase chain reaction
(PCR) tests as the standard.

“Kinilala na pero PCR pa rin yung pinaka-confirmatory.  So first step
lang yung Red Cross (DOH has recognized it but PCR is still the
confirmatory process. So first stepp is the Red Cross),” he said.

“Pero nakikita ko na pwede na ito sa mga LGUS na kailangan ng
mabilisan (But I can see that this can be used by the LGUs who need
faster results),” he pointed out.

That is why, he said, it is very crucial for the government to enter
into a parternship agreement with the private sector who have the
capability to offer such kind of COVID-19 testing processes.

“Isang hakbang lang ho ito yung saliva testing pero eventually,
importante rin na magkaroon ng mabilis na testing capability. Dahil
dito mo lang talaga madi-detect yung virus (The saliva testing is just
one of those measures we are advocating, but what is important is for
us to have a faster testing capability. Because this is the only way
we can detect the virus faster),” Gatchalian stressed.

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