INBOUND passengers may have to undergo a re-swab on the fifth day of their arrival in the Philippines to make sure that the Covid-19 test results are accurate, a Department of Health (DOH) said on Thursday.
Dr Alethea de Guzman, medical specialist IV of the DOH Epidemiology Bureau, reported how some persons tested negative on arrival, “but turned out to be positive” on or about the fifth day.
The DOH said that from the start, they had proposed a re-swab, considering that a Covid-19 test is considered effective up until day 5.
In an online Kapihan with the media, de Guzman said that implementation of Prevent, Detect, Isolate, Treat, and Reintegrate strategy is key to combat Covid-19.
“Strengthening case detection-test on arrival plus test on the 5th day plus strict quarantine with local government units as our partner” is the ideal, she said, adding that the case numbers should be kept low in order “to not overwhelm our capacities.”
The proposal to reswab inbound passengers on the fifth day came after the girlfriend of the 29-year-old Filipino businessman found infected with the new variant was also found to be positive for Covid in a re-swab. She had first tested negative when they swabbed her after the couple’s arrival on January 7.
She was re-swabbed after the new UK variant was detected in the RT-PCR positive samples of her boyfriend based on sequencing done by the Philippine Genome Center (PGC).
14 close contacts positive
Meanwhile, the DOH on Thursday said that another co-passenger of the couple n the flight from Dubai turned out positive in the re-swabbing.
There are now a total of 14 close contacts who turned positive — the girlfriend, the mother, three copassengers who also initially tested negative and the healthcare worker from Quezon City who attended to the index case.
Meanwhile, the DOH said that two of the six pasengers that they were unable to locate earlier have now been traced. The DOH sought the help of the Department of Interior and Local Government to locate the laboratory they were tested in and the quarantine facility they were brought to.
The DOH said that there is an ongoing re-swabbing of co-passengers. Only the samples of the girlfriend and the mother were first sent to PGC.
“As of now, we still don’t have their sequencing results,” the DOH said.
The Philippines’s Covid cases as of January 21, 2021 surged to 507, 717.
QI as backup facility
In anticipation of a possible surge of Covid-19 cases in the country, Health Secretary Francisco T. Duque III and Treatment czar Health Undersecretary Leopoldo Vega inspected the Quezon Institute (QI) Off-site Modular Hospital in Quezon City on Thursday. They also set out to assess how to further strengthen the overall health system capacity in the National Capital Region.
“In the midst of the pandemic and in pursuit of Universal Health Care, let us continue to strengthen and expand our health system capacities to provide better and quality services to all,” Duque said.
He added that despite the nearing Covid-19 vaccine rollout, the country’s health system shall remain prepared and ready to respond to any potential surges.
The QI Off-site Modular Hospital is an extension of the Jose R. Reyes Memorial Medical Center and will be under the direct supervision of JRRMMC Chief Dr. Emmanuel Montaña, Jr. The said facility has five modular sets with negative pressure rooms to hold 110 patients.
According to Dr. Montaña, patients per modular unit will be monitored using a 24-hour CCTV system.
There will also be medical specialists on-duty composed of infectious disease consultants, pulmonologists, cardiologists, nephrologists, pathologists, radiologists, geriatricians and internists.
Duque explained that only patients with positive RT-PCR results and classified as moderate cases will be accommodated at the QI Covid facility. A moderate category patient is defined as a clinically symptomatic patient with pneumonia findings on chest x-ray or ground glass opacities in CT Scan and does not require a ventilator.
Apart from the modular sets, the health officials also inspected the newly-constructed male and female dormitories for on-duty healthcare workers.
Each dorm has 16 rooms with a kitchen, pantry and laundry room. These dormitories are built to protect the healthcare workers from any kind of exposure as they have an alternating work week schedule.
Duque stressed that despite the health system capacity preparations for the expected surge, prevention remains the best strategy to keep healthcare utilization rates low.
“Our first line of defense will always be our homes and communities, so prevention—our minimum public health standards—will always be our best bet against the spread of the disease,” he said.
Image credits: Roy Domingo