DOH tells COVID-19 testing labs to explain Holy Week closure

MANILA, Philippines — COVID-19 testing laboratories that were closed during the Holy Week should explain why they were not operational, the Department of Health (DOH) said Wednesday.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the DOH issued a memorandum advising laboratories to remain open during the Holy Week so that the government can see actual figures on new COVID-19 cases.

“Pinag-uusapan na namin (We are discussing) with our licensing office regarding those laboratories which did not operate during the Holy Week, because we have issued a department memorandum advising them that they should remain to have their laboratories operational during this Holy Week because it is a critical time in our situation,” Vergeire said in an online press briefing.

“Pinag-uusapan na po natin kung ano [ang gagawin] but definitely magpapaliwanag po sila sa amin kung bakit hindi sila nagbukas,” she added.

(We are discussing it but definitely, they should explain why they did not open.)

The DOH earlier appealed to testing laboratories to continue their operations during the Holy Week holiday to guarantee the uninterrupted monitoring of new coronavirus cases.

The health department also noted that while the reproduction number of COVID-19 cases in Metro Manila has decreased after a week of enhanced community quarantine, such decrease was “artificial” because some laboratories did not operate in the previous days.

The country currently has a total of 152,562 active COVID-19 cases, with 9,373 additional infections reported on Tuesday.

/MUF