The Philippine Red Cross (PRC) has logged 23 percent positivity rate in its coronavirus disease (COVID-19) tests nationwide.
PRC Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Senator Richard J. Gordon laments the increasing COVID-19 positivity rate in the country.
“Dun sa mismong mga lahat ng tinetest namin sa kabuuan ng bansa, 23 percent positivity rate. Hindi kami nakakakita nyan noong araw, ngayon lang kami nakakakita, 23 percent positivity rate (In all the tests we have conducted nationwide, we recorded 23 percent positivity rate. We have not seen that before, we only saw it now),” he told ABS-CBN’s Teleradyo in an interview.
He reminded the public to take seriously and strictly follow the basic health protocols amid the increasing surge in COVID-19 infections in the country.
Gordon said "1, 967 out of 12, 075 tests conducted were positive.”
“So talagang mag-ingat tayo sapagkat talagang nagliliyab itong tinatawag nating COVID (So we should be careful that this COVID is blazing),” he said.
In early March, PRC biomolecular laboratories Chief Dr. Paulyn Ubial said they recorded seven to 11 percent positivity rate in PRC's COVID-19 tests.
She said they have logged increasing positivity rate since Feb. 11, 2021.
In the same radio interview, Ubial attributed the surging COVID-19 cases to poor contact tracing, and the failure of those who tested positive for COVID-19 to report their condition to the concerned authorities.
“Sa ngayon, ang problema talaga natin ay mahina ang ating contact tracing. Maraming taong nagpa-positive hindi na po sila nagpupunta sa Epidemiology Surveillance Unit sa local government at nagtatago na lang po sila sa kanilang mga bahay bahay so hindi po nate-test ang mga naging contacts nila (As of now, our problem is we have poor contact tracing. Many people tested positive but they don’t report to Epidemiology Surveillance Unit of the local government and they are hiding in their house so their close contacts are not being tested ,” she said.
The other thing, she said, is that the isolation facilities were now overwhelmed with people infected with COVID-19.
She said they were not encouraging home isolation because “in may times, it does not work.”