Testing Capacity: Philippines Tops Southeast Asia — DOH

Philippines took the top spot in the Southeast Asian region in terms of its testing capacity, according to DOH.

The Department of Health (DOH) reported that the Philippines had taken the top spot in the Southeast Asian region in terms of its testing capacity.

This, as the Philippines had tested “more unique individuals” than its economically-advanced neighbor countries. The Philippines had a total of 100 licensed testing laboratories as of August 6.

The increased testing capacity, according to the Department of Health, was the result of the Philippine government’s continuing efforts in order to expand its capability to identify the confirmed cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in harmony with other facets of its “national 5-point response strategy”.

Other facets of the government’s national strategy include the following: prevention, isolation, contact tracing, and treatment.

Testing Capacity
Photo: Logo of DOH

Moreover, the Department of Health reported that the expanded testing capacity had accompanied the enhanced disease surveillance strategies, including the active case finding, which resulted in more individuals detected and tested for coronavirus disease.

With its enhanced disease surveillance, 148 new areas with clustering were already identified and reported within the last week, and these clusters of cases had contributed to the observed increase in its daily COVID-19 case reports.

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Mreover, with its increased national testing capacity and its enhanced surveillance resulting in more identified confirmed COVID-19 cases, the Department of Health — in coordination with the National Task Force (NTF) Against COVID-19 and other line agencies — recently imposed a “revitalized response strategy” which shift its focus toward “localized” and “community-centered” responses to support Local Government Units (LGUs) in containing identified clusters.

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