LGUs, gov’t agencies directed to adopt new classification system for patients screened for COVID-19

The inter-agency task force on COVID-19 response has directed local government units and state agencies to follow the new classification system for patients screened for the virus, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said Tuesday.

Nograles said the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) made the decision on Monday.

Under the new classification system released by the Department of Health last week, persons who have mild, severe, or critical symptoms but have not undergone testing yet are considered “suspect.”

Persons who have mild, severe, or critical symptoms that have undergone testing but the results are not yet certain or the test was conducted in an unofficial testing laboratory will be classified as “probable.”

People who tested positive will be called “confirmed” cases.

Those who are formerly classified as persons under monitoring are dropped from the new classification system.

As of Monday, the Philippines had 4,932 COVID-19 cases, with 315 deaths and 242 recoveries.—AOL, GMA News