The Philippines' coronavirus testing czar on Sunday reminded the public of the importance of infection detection even as the country is set to receive its initial batch of COVID-19 vaccines.
The country is "well on target" to meet 10 million COVID-19 tests by end of the first quarter this year with the help of the Philippine Red Cross (PRC), said Secretary Vince Dizon.
"Itong pagpasok ng ating bakuna, hindi ibig sabihin nito hihinto na tayo. Kailangan po talaga, tuloy-tuloy po ang prevention, pagsusuot ng mask, pagdidistansiya... Kailangan tuloy-tuloy din po yung ating detection, isolation, at treatment," he told ABS-CBN's TeleRadyo.
(The arrival of vaccines does not mean we will stop testing. Prevention, such as wearing of masks and observing physical distancing, will continue. Detection, isolation, and treatment must continue.)
"Napakaimportante po d'yan ang ating detection, ang ating testing. Lalo na sa pagdami ng variants, kailangan po lalo pa nating paigtingin ang testing."
(Detection, testing is very important. We will intensify our testing especially now that there are many variants.)
The Philippines as of Friday has 62 reported cases of the more transmissible COVID-19 variant first detected in the UK. The total number of patients found to have both N501Y and E484K coronavirus mutations is at 34.
The PRC, aside from conducting COVID-19 tests, has expressed its willingness to assist in the government's COVID-19 immunization program and procurement of its own vaccine supply.
A total of 574,247 infections have been recorded in the Philippines, including 37,093 active cases, since the virus emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan late 2019.
More than 8.7 million samples and over 8.2 million individuals have been tested in the country for the virus. There are 200 accredited testing laboratories in the Philippines.
On Sunday, the country is set to receive its first official supply of COVID-19 vaccines, courtesy of China's Sinovac, to be followed on Monday by AstraZeneca's product.
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