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Gov't urged to provide free COVID-19 test kits to curb spread of infections in PH

Philippines | National

Gov't urged to provide free COVID-19 test kits to curb spread of infections in PH

By Charie Mae F. Abarca

In order to prevent the further spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) infections in the country, a public health advocate urged the national government to make “home testing and home treatment” accessible for all by providing free COVID-19 test kits to the public.

(MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO)

Public health advocate and former National Task Force (NTF) against COVID-19 special adviser Dr. Anthony “Tony” Leachon, on Saturday, Jan. 8, said that the country’s strategy amid the recent spike of COVID-19 cases should be ”home testing, home treatment, and home isolation.”

“Ito dapat ang maging policy natin. Dapat i-provide natin itong test kits na libre sa mga tao para maiwasan natin mag-balloon ang cases at ma-overwhelm ang mga emergency rooms (This should be our policy. We need to provide free test kits to the public to prevent the exponential increase of cases and for our emergency rooms not to be overwhelmed),” Leachon said in an interview over DZRH.

He likewise reiterated the need for every Filipino family to be able to diagnose their own symptoms and isolate themselves right away.

“We have to empower, educate, and engage every Filipino citizen to be able to understand the concept of testing, tracing, isolation, and quarantine,” Leachon added.

Meanwhile, Leachon said that in a worst case scenario, if the “strategy and the playbook” of the government doesn’t change, the National Capital Region (NCR), being the epicenter of the virus transmission in the country, may be escalated to Alert Level 4 in order to reduce mobility and to slow down the viral transmission of COVID-19.

Related Tags

covid-19 test kits test pandemic Dr. Tony Leachon isolate trace

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