THE surge in the number of asymptomatic novel coronavirus disease (Covid-19) patients in Metro Manila has overwhelmed the capacity of isolation facilities in the region.
Covid-19 testing czar Vivencio “Vince” Dizon said the six We Heal As One centers in the National Capital Region (NCR), which have a total of 3,000 bed capacity, have all run out of spaces to accommodate the large number of asymptomatic Covid-19 patients.
He said this prompted them to seek the assistance of the Department of Tourism (DOT) to tap some hotels to become additional isolation facilities.
“As of today [July 23], we were able to get almost 2,000 hotel rooms to be occupied by those who are asymptomatic and staying in LGUs [local government units] in Metro Manila,” Dizon said during his interview with Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque.
Dizon attributed the spike to the number of Covid-positive cases in NCR after the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) expanded the list of categories, which could be covered by the expanded targeted testing for suspected infected individuals.
Pooled testing
In NCR, he said they are confident they will be able to test 14 million people using “pooled” testing.
Under the said scheme, Dizon said the samples of 20 individuals will be pooled in a single reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test kit.
If the test result on the pooled specimen comes out negative, all of those whose samples were placed in the test kit will automatically be declared negative for Covid-19.
If the test comes out positive, he said they will continue to conduct more tests but dividing the 20 individuals into groups until they could isolate who among them are infected.
The pooled testing measure, now being used in several Western countries where it had greatly brought down costs, was adopted by the government to efficiently use its limited number of test kits.
Oplan Kalinga
Dizon said the recent intensified implementation of Oplan Kalinga, wherein a health representative and local government officials will conduct house visits to find asymptomatic Covid patients, also contributed to the higher occupancy of their isolation facilities.
The scheme initially drew concern from some groups, who claimed it could be used by the government to detain critics.
Roque, however, said their public information campaign to allay the said concern was effective based on the increasing number of asymptomatic patients who are voluntarily getting tested and going to isolation facilities.
The intensified enforcement of Oplan Kalinga earlier this month aims to reach out to asymptomatic patients exercising home quarantine without any separate bathrooms or bedrooms. This raised their chances of infecting other people living in the same home.
Roque pinned the blame on the Department of Health’s (DOH) failure to clarify the strict terms for asymptomatic Covid-patients on home quarantine, especially the need for separate bathrooms and bedrooms.
“We are rectifying it now, we have fully intensified our testing. You heard Testing Czar Vince Dizon, we might be able to test every single person in Metro Manila,” Roque said.
“We just need to increase our isolation centers [to accommodate them],” he added.
Image credits: Roy Domingo
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