Duterte to ASEAN: prepare for next pandemic

April 15 ------ The Southeast Asian nations must be ready for future outbreak of diseases since the coronavirus pandemic will not be the last, President Duterte declared Tuesday. The President proposed the installation of an early warning system for pandemics during the virtual summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on efforts to contain and stop the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. “COVID-19 will not be the last pandemic the world will face. We have to be ready for future outbreaks,” he said during the regional summit held online. He said that the ASEAN must improve and expand existing mechanisms to cover public health emergencies. “Specifically, we should establish an early warning system for pandemics in the region. This is something vital and concrete that we can do in a collective manner,” he added. The Philippines has reportedly the highest number of COVID-19 infections in Southeast Asia. As of April 14, the total number COVID-19 cases rose to 5,223 while the death toll reached 335. With the Luzon-wide lockdown extended until the end of the month, the government has pledged to ramp up testing to swiftly detect, isolate and treat patients. The targeted testing will prioritize probable COVID-19 cases, hospitalized patients, and health workers. In his public message late Monday, the President ordered the purchase of rapid test kits to boost the government’s testing capacity. Duterte said he will “take the risk” and “clear the way” for the procurement of the test kits even while awaiting the approval of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). According to Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles, the President decided to allow the use of both rapid test kits and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) diagnostic kits “in conjunction” to step up the pace of massive testing. He maintained that the laboratory-based PCR test will remain as the “gold standard” for diagnosing the disease. In his third weekly report to Congress, the President said the delivery of locally developed GenAmplify COVID-19 RT-PCR detection kit for 26,000 tests is ongoing. He noted that FDA has approved 33 COVID-19 test kits for commercial use, composed of 23 PCR based kits and 10 rapid antibody test kits. Of the pending COVID-19 test kit applications, 99 have been approved, 22 disapproved and 69 are awaiting approval due to incomplete requirements. “Since rapid test kits must be used in conjunction with RT-PCR, care must be exercised to not unduly consume RT-PCR kits for the sake of confirmation,” he said. “The DOH further states that testing asymptomatic contacts using RT-PCR is not recommended until there is a surplus testing capacity. In this regard, the DOH is continuously studying and exploring innovations that can potentially improve the testing capacity for COVID-19,” he said. He said Department of Health has activated 11 laboratories and hospitals for COVID-19 testing as of April 7. The health department aims a capacity of 8,000 tests per day. “As such, a total of 900,000 tests across all activated COVID-19 PCR laboratories are projected in the next three months,” Duterte said. Source: mb.com.ph