Salceda says PH has lowest COVID-19 testing rates

Albay Rep. Joey Salceda. File photo

MANILA, Philippines – Albay 2nd District Rep. Joey Salceda has insisted that the Department of Health (DOH) should have tested more patients for possible COVID-19 infection, noting that the country has one of the lowest testing per capita rates.

Salceda said on Wednesday that the low testing rates, coupled by the country’s vulnerability to a COVID-19 outbreak like the influx of Chinese citizens who work for Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations (Pogo), is enough reason to lockdown the whole Metro Manila.

“Hindi naman tayo nakapag-test masyado.  I-add mo lang ‘yong negative [cases] plus positive, wala pa tayong 700 [tested],” he told CNN Philippines’ The Source.

(We have not tested a lot of people.  You add the negative cases with the positive, we would not even reach 700 patients tested.)

“We’re one of the lowest tested countries with all the windows of vulnerabilities, Chinese tourists, Chinese Pogo workers, and of course all our imports, 30 percent are from China […] isa tayo sa mababa sa buong mundo [we are one of the lowest testing incidences in the world], six per million,” he added.

As of now, there are 33 COVID-19 cases in the Philippines, while 662 patients under investigation have been discharged.  However, several observers believe that the number does not reflect the true state of public health, as the Department of Health (DOH) may have unwittingly underreported these cases.

Salceda claimed that a Swiss pharmaceutical company offered DOH at least 1,000 testing kits worth P1,000 each as early as February 2, to counter possible problems of not having enough testing kits, which eventually was cited by DOH as the cause for a possible underreporting.

“Walang dahilan ang DOH na magsabi na wala silang kakayanan magtest, dahil inoffer sa kanila ng isang kumpanya dito, murang-mura P1,000 lang per test, tapos hindi nila hinandle ‘yon.  I think they should be made to account for it,” Salceda explained.

(DOH has no reason to say that they do not have the capability to test, because a company here offered a cheap testing kit worth P1,000 each.  But they did not handle that.  I think they should be made to account for it.)

While President Rodrigo Duterte placed the country under a state of public health emergency, he and other Metro Manila mayors shunned talks of locking down Metro Manila due to fears of expensive economic losses.

However, Salceda said that economic losses would be mitigated by a lockdown — rather than having no lockdown or having lockdowns only after the virus spreads.

He noted how other countries have a higher testing incidence despite having a smaller population than that of the Philippines.  He also added that because the country has no capability to handle such big outbreaks, officials always have to err on the side of caution.

“Ang sinasabi ko, sa number of test, dapat nagtest ng marami.  Katulad ng South Korea, 36 million lang [population] sila, pero 142,000 tests.  Kaya alam kagad, so nasaran kaagad ‘yong kung nasaan, identified si virus,” the lawmaker said.

(What I am saying is that the number of tests, we should have tested more.  Like South Korea, which only has a population of 36 million, but has conducted 142,000 tests.  That’s why they knew immediately where the virus is.)

“We should have tested more.  Kapag hindi ka kasi nag-test, ano ‘yong dulo?  Dapat may surge capacity ka: 101,000 [hospital] beds lang tayo dito sa Pilipinas, 47 percent public [hospitals].  So kapag tinignan mo ‘yong public side, katulad sa referral hospital sa Bicol, it’s already operating at 350 percent occupancy, so saan ko papapuntahin ‘yong buntis?” he asked.

(We should have tested more.  If you don’t do tests, what is at the end of it?  You should have the surge capacity, but there are only 101,000 hospital beds in the Philippines, 47 percent of which are public.  So if you would look at the public side, like in the referral hospital in Bicol region which is already operating at 350 percent occupancy, where would we send pregnant patients?)

COVID-19 is a respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus that first emerged in China’s city of Wuhan in Hubei province in late 2019.

The International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses named the novel coronavirus as SARS-CoV-2.

As of now, there are over 117,000 individuals infected with COVID-19, with 4,288 dying from it.  At least 64,000 persons have recovered from the ailment.

Edited by JPV