ni Thea Janica Teh - @Bulgarific | January 9, 2021
Hello, Bulgarians! Matapos ang successful Pooled Swab Testing sa bansa, pinasalamatan ni Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship at Go Negosyo Founder Joey Concepcion ang Department of Health (DOH) sa pagpirma sa Interim Guidelines on the Conduct of COVID-19 Pooled Testing sa ilalim ng Department Memorandum No. 2020-0539.
Aniya, “Now, the most important thing is that testing will be faster, and the capacity will increase. Pool testing is efficient as it would bring the cost to around 750 pesos in the pool of 5, versus 750 for only one individual.”
Maraming LGUs ang natulungan ng pooled testing simula pa noong Setyembre. Ilan sa mga ito ay ang Makati City, Southern Iloilo, Pasig City, Pasay City at Quezon City na nakapagpa-test na ng halos 15,012 indibidwal.
Sa inilabas na pahayag ni Makati City Mayor Abby Binay, sinabi nitong, “Companies and businesses with large workforces can continue securing the health and safety of their employees by signing up for pooled swab tests. This can be done regularly, especially now that the majority of companies have asked their staff to resume working on-site.”
Samantala, naglabas din ng pahayag si Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte at sinabing “We appreciate the continuous support of Project Ark in our battle against COVID-19. This initiative complements our testing efforts as we slowly gear towards revitalizing our economy.”
Ang Pooled Swab testing ay inaral ng Philippine Society of Pathologist Incorporated (PSPI), Research Institute of Tropical Medicine (RITM) at Philippine Children’s Medical Center (PCMC). Ang pondong ginamit dito ay pinagsama-samang donasyon ng Go Negosyo kasama ang mga pribadong sektor.
Ayon sa DOH, malaking tulong ang pooled swab test dahil mas madaling natutukoy kung ilan ang positibo sa virus. “Furthermore, it allows the opportunity for testing and targeting even asymptomatic individuals, as well as checking and monitoring areas in the country with low or decreasing COVID-19 prevalence.”
Sa ngayon, sa pangunguna ni Dr. Raymundo Lo, Head ng PCMC COVID-19 Testing Laboratory ay inuumpisahan na ang pag-aaral sa Saliva-Based Testing and Pooled Saliva-Based Testing para sa mas mabilis at mas abot-kayang COVID-19 test sa bansa.