Roque assures gov't has mass testing policy
Published May 19, 2020 11:04 am
By Jeffrey Damicog
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque clarified on Tuesday that he did not say that the government has no mass testing policy and gave assurance that the country aims to be at par with nations like South Korea by being able to conduct around 30,000 tests per day for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque
(YANCY LIM/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN) “What we are doing is we are trying to follow the best examples that we have and right now we are trying to follow the footsteps of South Korea and that is why the goal is to test 1.5 to 2 percent of the total population,” he said during an interview over CNN Philippines. Roque admitted that the Philippines has yet to achieve the mark it has set. “Perhaps, what we have to admit is that we are still building up our testing capacity,” Roque said. “We are aiming to test 30,000 persons a day which is similar to what South Korea is doing and admittedly we are far from that,” he added. Roque assured that the government is “hell bent on achieving 30,000 tests per day." “Now that we have opened up the economy, we need really to isolate, locate, and cure those with COVID-19 before the economy opens any further,” the Palace executive pointed out. Roque had earlier said that the government has no mass testing policy and has to rely on the private sector to do so. The statement he made on Monday was: “As much as possible po ano, mayroon tayong—ini-increase natin iyong capacity natin ng testing, kaya nga we’re aiming na aabot tayo sa 30,000. Pero in terms of mass testing na ginagawa ng Wuhan na all 11 million, wala pa pong ganyang programa at iniiwan natin sa pribadong sektor.” (As much as possible, we are increasing our testing capacity. So we are aiming to reach 30,000 . But in terms of mass testing like that implemented in Wuhan where 11 million will be tested, we don’t have a similar program and we’re leaving that up to the private sector.) “Actually that was taken out of context,” Roque told CNN. “It is not accurate to say that we have no mass testing policy,” he added. Roque explained that his statement on Monday was in response to questions on whether companies are required to have their employees tested for COVID-19. “In the press conference, I cited Wuhan because in Wuhan they are attempting to test everyone, 11 million residents of Wuhan. And the context of what I said we can’t do the same thing in Metro Manila perhaps. But what we are doing 1.5 to 2 percent testing which is what South Korea is also doing,” Roque explained. He added that companies are not required to have their employees tested but could do so. Roque pointed out that “from the very beginning, it has really been a public-private partnership as far as testing is concerned.” “Businesses know that the economy cannot reopen without a significant number of our population being subjected to testing,” he explained. Roque believes that the better term the government should be using is not “mass testing” but “targeted testing." “No country in the world tests every citizen,” he said. “I think it is physically impossible to test 110 million but we are aiming to test, also using statistics as a science, 1.2 or 2 percent of our population,” he added.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque(YANCY LIM/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN) “What we are doing is we are trying to follow the best examples that we have and right now we are trying to follow the footsteps of South Korea and that is why the goal is to test 1.5 to 2 percent of the total population,” he said during an interview over CNN Philippines. Roque admitted that the Philippines has yet to achieve the mark it has set. “Perhaps, what we have to admit is that we are still building up our testing capacity,” Roque said. “We are aiming to test 30,000 persons a day which is similar to what South Korea is doing and admittedly we are far from that,” he added. Roque assured that the government is “hell bent on achieving 30,000 tests per day." “Now that we have opened up the economy, we need really to isolate, locate, and cure those with COVID-19 before the economy opens any further,” the Palace executive pointed out. Roque had earlier said that the government has no mass testing policy and has to rely on the private sector to do so. The statement he made on Monday was: “As much as possible po ano, mayroon tayong—ini-increase natin iyong capacity natin ng testing, kaya nga we’re aiming na aabot tayo sa 30,000. Pero in terms of mass testing na ginagawa ng Wuhan na all 11 million, wala pa pong ganyang programa at iniiwan natin sa pribadong sektor.” (As much as possible, we are increasing our testing capacity. So we are aiming to reach 30,000 . But in terms of mass testing like that implemented in Wuhan where 11 million will be tested, we don’t have a similar program and we’re leaving that up to the private sector.) “Actually that was taken out of context,” Roque told CNN. “It is not accurate to say that we have no mass testing policy,” he added. Roque explained that his statement on Monday was in response to questions on whether companies are required to have their employees tested for COVID-19. “In the press conference, I cited Wuhan because in Wuhan they are attempting to test everyone, 11 million residents of Wuhan. And the context of what I said we can’t do the same thing in Metro Manila perhaps. But what we are doing 1.5 to 2 percent testing which is what South Korea is also doing,” Roque explained. He added that companies are not required to have their employees tested but could do so. Roque pointed out that “from the very beginning, it has really been a public-private partnership as far as testing is concerned.” “Businesses know that the economy cannot reopen without a significant number of our population being subjected to testing,” he explained. Roque believes that the better term the government should be using is not “mass testing” but “targeted testing." “No country in the world tests every citizen,” he said. “I think it is physically impossible to test 110 million but we are aiming to test, also using statistics as a science, 1.2 or 2 percent of our population,” he added.