By Analou De Vera
The Department of Health (DOH) said that the public should expect that the number of confirmed cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) will continue to rise in the coming days due to the increased testing capacity.
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"Ito pong darating na mga araw, alam ko po ikakagulat ng marami ang biglang pagtaas ng kaso natin, Ito po ay sa kadahilanan na marami na po tayong mailalabas na test results dahil ang testing capacity ay na expand na po," said Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire in a press briefing on Saturday afternoon.
(In the coming days, I know many of you will be surprised of the sudden surge in the number of cases. This is because many of us are being tested now because our testing capacity has been expanded)
Vergeire said that this could be attributed to the availability of more testing kits, and that the other subnational laboratories have begun testing samples aside from the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM).
The health official said that the sharp increase in cases may be due to "artificial rise."
"Meron po tayong tinatawag na artificial rise dahil nga po na reduce yung backlog natin doon sa laboratory capacity," said Vergeire.
(We can call that an artificial rise because we are now reduing the backlog we used to have at the laboratory)
"Pagdating po natin na magkakaroon na tayo ng stable na laboratory testing capacity, makikita na po natin ang totoong pagtaas ng kaso dito sa ating bansa," she added.
(When we reach stable laboratory testing capacity, that’s when we will find out true spikes in the number of cases in our country)
To note, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country has climbed to 380.
Health workers
Vergeire said the DOH-Epidemiology Bureau was already instructed to collate the data on the number of health workers who have tested positive or now under quarantine for COVID-19.
“With this process that they do, iyan po yung risk na hinaharap nila at maari po silang mainfect. Kung mapapansin nyo po, malaking porsyento po kahit sa ibang bansa ang health care workers na naiinfect nitong COVID-19,” said Vergeire.
(That’s the risk they’re facing, that they could be infected. If you would notice, a large percentage of those infected by COVID-19 in the other countries were health car workers)
The Health official appealed to patients to fully disclose all necessary information to their attending medical personnel when seeking consultation.
“Kami po ay humihingi ng tulong sa inyong lahat na sana po kung pupunta kayo sa ating hospital magbigay po kayo ng tamang inpormasyon. Disclose all information. Pangalagaan po natin ang ating mga health care workers dahil sila po ang mag-aalaga sa atin pag tayo po ay nagkasakit,” she said.
(We are asking for your help that if you need to go to a hospital, please give only the right information. Disclose all information. Let’s take care of our health care workers because they’re the ones who will care for us when we get sick)