FILE PHOTO: A man spits in a small container using straw so his saliva can be collected and tested for COVID-19 at the Philippine Red Cross headquarters in Port Area, Manila, on January 26, 2021. INQUIRER/ MARIANNE BERMUDEZ
MANILA, Philippines — Saliva test results are now “retroactively” included in the Department of Health’s (DOH) COVID-19 daily case count as stated in a memorandum.
“Relative to this, the Disease Reporting Units (DRUs) laboratories, health facilities, and Epidemiology Surveillance Units (ESUs) are instructed to retroactively include all official laboratory results starting from January 21, 2021, from DOH-accredited Philippine Red Cross (PRC) COVID-19 Testing Laboratories to the daily census of COVID-19 cases,” read the memorandum from Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire, a copy of which was obtained by INQUIRER.net.
The DOH also reminded the PRC to make sure that the correct specimen type is indicated in their submissions to the COVID-19 Information Systems and corresponding Case Investigation Forms and Individual Laboratory.
According to the PRC, the saliva test, which is a cheaper and faster alternative, has an accuracy rate of 98.11 percent in detecting SARS-COV 2, the virus causing COVID-19.
EXPLAINER: What is saliva-based Covid-19 test and where to get it