Doc's plea to politicians: Don't pressure DOH to give you COVID-19 tests

Politicians should give due consideration to the Department of Health (DOH) and refrain from pressuring the health officials to prioritize them for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) tests, an infectious disease expert said Friday.

"Pinapakiusapan lang po namin 'yung mga politician na huwag ninyo pong i-pressure 'yung Department of Health," Dr. Edsel Salvana said in an interview on Dobol B sa News TV.

"Alam naman po natin hawak nila [politicians] 'yung budget pero kung ipe-pressure ninyo tapos bumigay 'yun nga po ang nangyayari," he added.

The call was made amid public clamor over the alleged VIP testing among politicians while many persons under investigation are dying without even knowing their test results.

Salvana, who leads the technical advisory group of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases, said there are only two groups that are allowed to be tested for COVID-19 despite being asymptomatic.

"Unang-una health care workers tapos 'yung pangalawa 'yung critical government officials—at 'yun may discretion ang Department of Health, pero ang problema rin po diyan, intindihin po natin, siyempre sino bang may hawak ng budget ng Department of Health?" he said.

Several Cabinet members and lawmakers have undergone the COVID-19 test after being exposed to infected patients. Three senators and at least two congressmen have, so far, tested positive for the virus.

Based on the online tracker of the DOH, 2,147 COVID-19 tests have been made nationwide, as of March 27.

Salvana said that the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine and other sub-national laboratories in the country have the capacity to process 1,000 tests every day. The turnaround time for laboratory results is 24 to 48 hours but backlogs are delaying their releases.

"Ang nangyayari ngayon, pinaprioritize po 'yung severe at critically ill patients," he said.—AOL, GMA News