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Hontiveros calls for official mass testing system to hit target COVID-19 tests
Senator Risa Hontiveros is calling on the National Task Force (NTF) Against COVID-19 to establish an official mass testing system as part of its COVID-19 response.
Hontiveros made the call after testing czar Vince Dizon said they would increase the country's testing capacity to 90,000 per day, which, according to the senator, came a little too late.
In a statement, Hontiveros questioned why the NTF was "only now paying attention to the suggestion" to the Department of Health's recommendation to use antigen tests to test more people for COVID-19.
“I urge the NTF to be more vigilant. We have all the tools and information, but we keep on acting too late. This is what happened when we didn’t close our borders the first time, and again, when we failed to close them as the new variants started to spread," she said.
"We need an official and national mass testing system to hit our targets and to hit them smartly. We need to increase the magnitude of testing and sustain the quality so that we do not post artificial improvement," she added.
Dizon on Tuesday said the government is planning to ramp up COVID-19 tests
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To achieve this, he said the government will be using antigen test kits certified by the World Health Organization and the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine along with the RT-PCR test.
Hontiveros said that while the targeted 90,000 tests per day is a good start, it should "be the floor, not the target ceiling."
Citing the DOH COVID-19 tracker, she said the country tested as few as 28,000 cases in March despite the rising number of cases.
She also lamented the average of 13 tests for every COVID-19 case in the Philippines, which she said is an "extremely far cry from the 111 tests per case of Thailand, and the 1000 tests per case of Vietnam."
“The truth is we have no choice but to set high targets, and hit them. No ifs or buts," Hontiveros said.
"We can no longer fall short because the consequence is the disturbing outbreak we are facing and will continue to face.” —Erwin Colcol/KBK, GMA News