Davao hospitals still require RT-PCR tests for admission

The Davao City-based Southern Philippines Medical Center. —KARLOS MANLUPIG/INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

DAVAO CITY—Despite the relaxed protocols against COVID-19, all hospitals in the city continue to require those who want to be admitted to undergo reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test so that those who might have been infected could be taken to isolation facilities.

This was the agreement among hospitals and the city government through the COVID-19 Task Force and the City Health Office, said Dr. Michelle Schlosser, spokesperson for the task force.

Schlosser noted that RT-PCR testing at Southern Philippines Medical Center, the main COVID-19 referral hospital in the region, remains free.

The policy on RT-PCR testing prior to hospital admission stays amid the continuing deaths due to COVID-19.

Schlosser revealed that from January to October this year, 380 people died because of the coronavirus, many of them either unvaccinated, unable to complete their basic doses, or unable to get booster shots.

Vax important

She noted that although only a few were infected with the virus last week, it was unfortunate that six deaths were recorded.

Of those who died recently, three were seniors, and one each in their 20s, 30s and 50s. Of those deaths, two were unvaccinated while the rest had received only a single dose of COVID-19 vaccine.

Schlosser urged residents to immediately get vaccinated, saying COVID-19 shots are available in district health centers and in their respective villages.

“We make sure that we are admitting patients who are COVID-19-free. Imagine if they are positive and they’ll be mixed up with sick people who are vulnerable to COVID-19 infection. The transmission will be a lot faster,” she said.

The city health official said it would be unimaginable what would happen to the city’s health-care system if mandatory RT-PCR testing is not implemented.

Schlosser said patients must be tested for the virus before they get admitted because “we will be putting other patients and front-liners at risk.”Although patients will be tested, those who will watch over them inside the hospital rooms will not undergo testing, unlike in the past when both the patients and watchers were required to undergo the test.