Drop in virus cases not due to halt in Red Cross operations – DOH

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Health (DOH) said the recent drop in the number of new COVID-19 cases in the country cannot be attributed to the decision of the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) not to process samples until Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) settled its debt of almost P1 billion.

Of the 151 accredited laboratories nationwide, only 10 are PRC laboratories, of which three are in Metro Manila. DOH data showed that from Oct. 1 to 21, these three laboratories reported nearly 11 percent of the new infections, or 6,677, while from Sept. 10 to 30, they accounted for 13 percent of the total new cases, or 10,088.

In both periods, DOH noted that 61 laboratories across the country recorded a decline in the number of new cases.

In a statement, DOH said “With this comparison, the decrease in the number of daily positive cases may not be attributed to the halting of operations of PRC laboratories alone. We are currently investigating this trend and coordinating with the laboratories to determine the factors contributing to the decrease in positive cases.”

Since the start of October, newly reported cases have stayed below 3,000—apart from Oct. 4, 12 and 16 when new infections rose by more than 3,000.

The average daily cases in October have declined to 2,413 from 3,083 in September and 4,209 in August.

Early in October, the PRC said it would stop processing samples charged to PhilHealth until the state insurer paid its P930-million debt.

After PhilHealth received the Department of Justice’s legal opinion that the memorandum of agreement it signed with PRC is “not subject to the procurement law,” the state insurance firm said it would pay the PRC on Monday, “subject to completeness of billing requirements” and in compliance with Commission on Audit rules.

“This should enable PRC to immediately resume its testing of swab specimens of concerned sectors which PhilHealth pays for,” PhilHealth said in a statement.

On Saturday, DOH logged an additional 2,057 cases, bringing the national caseload to 367,819.

Of the new cases, 1,892 got sick between Oct. 11 and 24, while 83 fell ill between Oct. 1 and 10.

Rizal province reported the most number of new infections, 107, followed by Caloocan (102), Quezon City (96), Benguet (92) and Davao City (91).

There are now a total 313,112 COVID-19 survivors with the recovery of 442 more patients.

The death toll, however, climbed to 6,934 as 19 patients succumbed to the severe respiratory disease.