Price cap on Covid tests likely — Palace

CAPPING GREED The Department of Health has proposed a price ceiling to bring down the cost of COVID-19 tests so that more people can be tested. Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque says the proposal is now on the desk of President Duterte awaiting his signature. Some laboratories are reportedly charging P10,000 to P20,000 for the test. —GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE

The government is likely to impose a ceiling on the cost of COVID-19 tests, with a proposal for a price cap now on the President’s desk and awaiting his signature, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said on Thursday.

“From all indications, it seems there will be a price cap,” Roque told a press briefing.

Roque said the technical working group from the Department of Health (DOH) had submitted its proposal to Malacañang, and the Office of the Executive Secretary had finished evaluating it.

But Roque declined to disclose the suggested price limit in order not to preempt the President.

Exorbitant rates

The price ceiling would be necessary because there were laboratories charging high rates for the test, when it could be completed at a lower cost, he said.

There were reports earlier this week that private laboratories were charging returning overseas Filipinos P10,000 to P20,000 for the COVID-19 tests.

Roque said a price cap would allow more people to be tested for the severe respiratory disease caused by the new coronavirus, and help the government prevent the spread of the pathogen.

“Testing would become more affordable and we would be able to test more people,” he said.

Without testing, the government would not know whom to isolate and treat, he added.

Returning Filipinos had been turning to private laboratories for their COVID-19 test after the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) stopped providing the service due to unpaid debts by Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth).

But Roque said on Thursday that a private organization and private laboratory had offered to conduct the required reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing on Filipinos returning to the country.

Project Ark has offered to provide RT-PCR tests for arriving Filipinos, and will devote its laboratories at Philippine Children’s Medical Center, Jose Rodriguez Memorial Hospital, and Jose B. Lingad Memorial Regional Hospital in Pampanga for tests, he said.

Tests at airport

The Philippine Airport Diagnostic Laboratory, which operates at Ninoy Aquino International Airport, also has made a similar offer to the government, he added.

It would charge the same amount as the PRC, which is P3,500 to P4,000.

It could conduct 4,000 tests a day, he said.

This would help ensure the migrants would get their test results promptly, he said.

“Our message to the returning [migrants] is do not worry, there would be no problem with your PCR test,” he said.

Thousands of migrants were earlier reported to be stuck in quarantine centers after the release of their RT-PCR tests were delayed due to the PRC’s decision to stop COVID-19 testing.

The stoppage resulted in doubtful daily counts of COVID-19 cases, with new infections numbering fewer than 2,000 in recent days.

New infections

On Thursday, the DOH reported 1,761 additional infections, pushing the overall number of cases to 376,935.

The DOH said 740 more patients had recovered, bringing the total number of COVID-19 survivors in the country to 329,848. The death toll, however, rose to 7,147 with the deaths of 43 more patients.

That left the country with 39,940 active cases, of which 83.3 percent were mild, 10.9 percent asymptomatic, 2.1 percent severe, and 3.7 percent critical. —WITH A REPORT FROM DONA Z. PAZZIBUGAN