Vergeire: DOH probing COVID-19 test output drop in NCR, 6 regions

The Department of Health (DOH) is looking into the decline in the number of COVID-19 tests conducted in Metro Manila and six other regions over the past week.

Data presented by Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire during her regular press briefing on Friday showed that the National Capital Region, and Regions 8, 9, 10, 11, Soccsksargen, and Caraga posted declines in testing output as of September 21.  

Vergeire said the number of tests done in Metro Manila declined from 287,548 the previous week to 258,047 recently, reflecting a 10.3% decrease. This translated to a lower number of positive individuals, from 66,654 to 50,194.

“We are currently assessing the reasons for this decline and if this reflects a true decline in cases or just affected by the other factors such as ongoing active case finding, contact tracing, and the use of the antigen to complement the RT-PCR testing,” she said.

“The large decline in reported cases may have been largely affected by the rapid and large decline in RT-PCR laboratory output. Thus the need to interpret our case metrics carefully and the ongoing assessment by DOH to determine what factors led to this much lower test output,” the DOH official added.

A total of 71,010 individuals in the country were screened for COVID-19 on September 21, according to the DOH. Of this number, 24.6% returned positive results. —LBG, GMA News