The government may be able to screen all residents of Metro Manila for COVID-19 if the pooled testing method will be applied, Malacañang said Thursday.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque however said the government must calibrate implementation of the group testing with the establishment of isolation centers for mild cases to limit the spread of the illness.
Pool or batch testing allows the government to diagnose more people quickly, reducing time and supplies required.
Under this technique, health authorities may combine samples from several people and test them together instead of running them individually. A negative test result will clear everyone in the group but a positive result requires all members to be individually tested.
"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 during a televised press briefing.
"Kailangan lang natin damihin din ang isolation centers natin baka mamaya alam natin positive walang sariling kuwarto, walang banyo hahawan ‘yung pamilya. I think ika-calibrate natin ‘yung intensified pooled testing natin with building of more isolation centers (We need to build more isolation centers because there might be positives who don't have their own room and toilet and infect other family members. I think we must calibrate intensified pooled testing with the building of more isolation centers)," he said.
The Palace had earlier admitted that the country cannot afford to test all Filipinos even it wanted to and will instead consider pooled testing method.
President Duterte has asked Health Secretary Francisco Duque III if the government can test all Filipinos during a meeting on the pandemic response last Monday. Duque told the President that no country can test all citizens, and that the government instead aims to test 10 million Filipinos, or 10 percent of the country's population, by 2021.
The government has announced plans to further expanded testing efforts to track down, isolate, and treat those infected with the illness. The intensified testing efforts have been attributed by the Palace to the sharp rise in the cases of coronavirus in the country.