Public urged to seek COVID-19 testing earlier

An epidemiologist on Friday urged the public to get tested for COVID-19 earlier to prevent further transmission.

Dr. John Wong, resident epidemiologist of the Department of Health, said delayed testing was one of the factors in the increasing COVID-19 positivity rate.

“One indicator we were seeing kasi is there’s a delay in health seeking. On the average,  it takes three days for [an] asymptomatic person to go get tested,” Wong said in a virtual briefing.

“In those three days, they could be infecting their household members or people at work… People [should] seek testing much earlier,” he added.

According to the World Health Organization, the incubation period of the virus that causes COVID-19 ranges from five to 14 days.

Wong said COVID-19 transmission had to be contained to avoid further mutations.

“We need to control transmission kasi transmission also drives mutation. If we develop not just imported variants but our own variant, it makes the vaccination program less effective,” Wong said.

The Philippines has recorded 58 COVID-19 cases with the South Africa variant, 118 UK variant cases, and 85 cases with mutations of concern.

The World Health Organization earlier said the AstraZeneca vaccine, which was recently delivered to the Philippines, is still effective even in areas with South Africa variant cases. 

Wong also urged the public to continue observing health protocols amid a surge in infections.

“Our focus now should be… masking and ventilation. You wear a mask to protect yourself but also to protect other people. It’s sort of a form of herd immunity also. As more people wear masks, you protect the rest of the population,” Wong said. -NB, GMA News