Red Cross urged to review drive-through saliva test

MORE CONVENIENT A nurse helps a blind senior citizen take a COVID-19 saliva test inside a van at the Philippine Red Cross headquarters in Port Area, Manila, in this Jan. 26 file photo. —MARIANNE BERMUDEZ

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Health (DOH) has asked the Philippine Red Cross to reconsider its plan to set up drive-through COVID-19 testing centers at shopping malls.

According to Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire, testing just about anyone for COVID-19 may not be an efficient use of scarce resources and supplies.

“Although we commend these kinds of efforts, we need to look at the aspect of efficiency of such mass testing. We need to be more careful in having such initiatives,” Vergeire said in a televised briefing on Wednesday.

Enough basis for test

“We would like to test everybody if possible. But we also need to have enough basis to conduct these tests,” she added.

The Red Cross last week launched drive-through COVID-19 testing using saliva as specimen at the branches of a major chain of shopping malls.

The DOH had approved the Red Cross’ request to conduct COVID-19 testing using saliva as alternative specimen instead of nose and throat swabs.

Laboratories not affiliated with the Red Cross were not allowed to do saliva testing until the state-run Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) had concluded its study of the method.

The DOH reminded people who would get tested that a negative result did not permit them to ditch health measures, such as wearing masks and physical distancing in public.

“Be on guard against complacency and overconfidence that just because they got tested and were found negative, it won’t mean that they cannot be positive in the coming days,” Vergeire said. “Remember that they can be exposed and be infected as soon as they get tested.”

New infections

On Sunday, the DOH reported 1,709 additional coronavirus infections, bringing the overall number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country to 537,310.

The DOH said 70 more patients had died, raising the death toll to 11,179. It said 11,388 patients had recovered pushing the total number of COVID-19 survivors to 499,798.

The deaths and recoveries left the country with 26,333 active cases, of which 87.9 percent were mild, 5.6 percent asymptomatic, 0.67 percent moderate, 2.9 percent severe, 3 percent critical.

The Philippines will get the first batch of an order for 117,000 doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine from the global vaccine sharing scheme COVAX on Feb. 19. On Sunday, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said the vaccine would be administered to priority recipients quickly.

In a television interview, Roque said 50,000 health workers would be the first to get the first shot of the two-dose regimen.

“The vaccination will be very quick because they’re only 117,000 doses and only around 50,000 will be vaccinated,” Roque said.

4 Metro Manila hospitals

Last week, Carlito Galvez Jr., who handles procurement for the government’s vaccination program, said first in line to get the shots would be staff of four COVID-19 referral hospitals in Metro Manila: Philippine General Hospital (PGH) in Manila, Lung Center of the Philippines and East Avenue Medical Center in Quezon City, and Dr. Natalio Rodriguez Memorial Medical Center (Tala Hospital) in Caloocan City.

Roque said not only medical professionals would be vaccinated.

“All those working as medical front-liners [will be vaccinated]. So if you’re in PGH, it’s not only the doctors (and nurses), but also the interns, the clerks going around, and even the janitors will be included as priority,” he said.

Roque said lists of hospital staff to be vaccinated were being prepared. The PGH list, he said, contains 5,000 names.

The rest of the country’s 1.4 million health-care workers will be vaccinated when 5 million doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine from COVAX arrive this month, he said.

—With a report from Jerome Aning