Gov’t still OK with rapid tests

MANILA, Philippines — The government continues to back the use of rapid testing for the new coronavirus despite misgivings from medical specialists, with presidential spokesperson Harry Roque saying it helps the government detect people with COVID-19.

Roque on Wednesday said the increasing number of COVID-19 cases in the Philippines was not unique, as other countries in the world also experienced spikes in infections, but pointed out that the Philippines’ death rate was still relatively low.

According to Roque, the government never encouraged the use of rapid testing as a stand-alone measure and had always said it should be used in conjunction with the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test, which the Department of Health (DOH) recommends as it produces the most accurate results.

Rising infections

Medical groups have been calling for a stop to the use of rapid testing since a surge in coronavirus infections began with the reopening of the economy on June 1.

Dr. Antonio Dans of the Philippine Society of General Internal Medicine has said the use of the rapid testing in the workplace has contributed to the surge.

Rapid testing looks for antibodies and not the new coronavirus, and people who test negative with this system could still be spreading the disease, Dans has said.

In a television interview on Wednesday, Roque said there were other doctors who supported the use of rapid testing.

He said businesses that used rapid testing also used the PCR test.

“The manner in which they are used by Project Ark, which is still in conjunction with PCR tests, I think, should not be discouraged because it still produces the results that we want, which is to find out who among our population is afflicted with the disease,” Roque said.

He also said he now hesitated to call PCR testing the “gold standard,” as the DOH describes this system.

PCR false positives

PCR tests, Roque claimed, have produced “many cases” of false positives as the tests are also affected by the manner by which the specimen was collected, and by the incompatibility between the testing kits and the machines used.

“No test is perfect, that’s why you have to complement the use of rapid tests with PCRs,” he added.

Citing DOH data, Roque said there were no infection clusters in workplaces so it could not be said that rapid testing was responsible for the surge in infections.

“The data will support, perhaps, that rapid test kits are doing what they’re supposed to do, which is to operate as initial screening until individuals are able to get PCR tests,” he said.

As for the surge in infections in the country, Roque said this was happening worldwide, and cited a report saying that 70 percent of countries were experiencing spikes in COVID-19 cases.

“We’re not alone. It’s not as if it’s just happening in the Philippines,” he said.

New strain

There are also reports that the new coronavirus has mutated and has become more infectious, although experts have yet to confirm if this is the case in the Philippines, he said.

But fewer people are dying of COVID-19 in the Philippines, he said.

“The important thing to note is that death or mortality rates remain to be very low,” he said.

The country’s mortality rate is over 2 percent, which is within the threshold of 5 percent considered acceptable by the international community, he said.

Roque said 98.5 percent of the cases in the country were asymptomatic or mild.

“For the 1.5 percent that statistically could be afflicted with the disease in a critical manner, we are expanding our capacity to provide critical care,” he added.

The government is building more intensive care space in several hospitals and more isolation centers, he said.

It will also pilot pooled testing, or the use of one testing kit for several people, to increase the government’s testing capacity and detect more infections, he said.

Pooled testing is expected to begin on Thursday in Makati.

Commenting on a report in the Straits Times newspaper in Singapore on Aug. 4 that the Philippines could become the new epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in Southeast Asia after the country reported a record high in infections, Roque said the reimposition of stricter quarantine measures on Metro Manila and four nearby provinces was part of the government’s “recalibrated plans” to curb the spread of the coronavirus.