MANILA, Philippines — The government now wants to test locally stranded individuals for the new coronavirus although it had already ferried more than 53,000 to their home provinces and allegedly caused a surge in new infections, particularly in Eastern Visayas and in Lanao del Sur.
Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said stranded individuals would now have to undergo antigen, or polymerase chain reaction, tests instead of the faster but less reliable antibody tests that stranded individuals supposedly took before they were brought home starting in March.
Officials of Eastern Visayas and Lanao del Sur complained that their localities only had a few cases in the first two months of the lockdown but there has been a “rapid increase” since the government started implementing its “Hatid Probinsya” initiative, which has been renamed “Hatid Tulong.”
Eastern Visayas lawmakers even jointly appealed the government to ramp up funding for pandemic-related projects in their areas.
As of June 19, Eastern Visayas recorded the third most number of new cases after Metro Manila and Central Visayas, according to Department of Health data.