COVID-19 testing in Pasig at 'satisfactory' rate —Vico Sotto

With around 350 tests done each day, Pasig City is starting to see a "clear picture" of its coronavirus disease (COVID-19) situation and will soon test people in high-risk sectors, Mayor Vico Sotto said Wednesday. 

Asked about his city's ideal testing capacity, Sotto said he will not put a ceiling number.

"Obviously, the more the better. In a hypothetical situation where we could test every single person, that will be great," he said at a virtual press conference hosted by the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines. 

"But right now we have the combination of PCR [polymerase chain reaction] and rapid testing, maybe 350 tests per day. I think this is a good number, it is a satisfactory number where we can start getting a clear picture," he added. 

Sotto said the local government aims to test all suspected and probable COVID-19 cases and is looking to complete its backlog by Wednesday or Thursday.

They are also testing health workers and close contacts, after which they will start testing people in high-risk sectors, such as those who are immuno-compromised. 

"What exact number, what exact percentage of the population should we test, I don't know — but the prioritization of our testing is very clear. If contact tracing was a web, we will start in the middle and then branch out as far as possible," he said. 

He said there are 266 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the city. 

While the number is still increasing, Sotto stressed that the rise is a "steady number" of 10 to 15 confirmed cases per day even as they are testing in the hundreds. 

"This is very good because that means that the line at most is a straight line. The danger would be if it was still exponential at this point so that is good news. Eventually we should see this line being tapered off then going down," he said. 

Sotto said on Saturday that his city has six COVID-19 testing booths set up in their super health centers.

The local government also has a partnership with The Medical City, a private hospital, he said.

As of Tuesday, there were 6,599 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country, according to the Department of Health. Of this number, 654 recovered while 437 died. —KG, GMA News