MANILA, Philippines — Protocols to decide who can be tested for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) might change as soon as more testing kits become available in the country.
Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said the changes may be made based on the number of testing kits that would arrive.
Nograles is also the spokesperson of the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on Emerging Infectious Diseases Spokesperson.
“Now with the arrival of new kits, either purchased or donated, then there is a chance the IATF may change the protocols or update the protocols,” Nograles said in a press briefing.
According to the Department of Health (DOH) triage system, those who have a history of travel to countries with COVID-19, have had direct contact with existing confirmed cases in the country, and are showing symptoms of the disease will be prioritized for testing.
They are classified as persons under monitoring (PUM) or patients under investigation (PUI).
“I don’t want to get ahead of the IATF, but let’s say these are the protocols because these are the number of kits. Now with more kits coming, perhaps there is a chance that we will be updating the protocols based on the number of kits,” Nograles said, speaking partly in Filipino.
Nograles did not specify what kind of changes could be made should more testing kits arrive.
The country is expecting more testing kits from China and South Korea, DOH earlier said.
READ: PH to receive coronavirus rapid test kits from South Korea, China — Duque
This is on top of the testing kits which will be developed by the University of the Philippines National Institute of Health (UP-NIH).
READ: COVID-19 test kits developed by UP to be used starting next week
The Philippines is now under a state of calamity due to the rising cases of COVID-19, which originated from Wuhan City in China’s Hubei province late last year.
READ: Duterte: Philippines now under state of calamity due to COVID-19
Health officials have so far recorded 202 cases of COVID-19 in the country. Of the number, 17 have died.
READ: 15 new COVID-19 cases bring total to 202
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