THE TRIAGE protocols that determine who should be prioritized in testing for the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) may change once diagnostic testing kits become available in the country, said Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles.
Nograles’ remark came amid calls for mass Covid-19 diagnostic testing and criticism that politicians, including President Duterte, his partner and child; and his family, including other personalities were allowed to undergo Covid-19 testing despite being asymptomatic.
“With the arrival of new kits either purchased or donated then there is a chance that the IATF (Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases) may change the protocols or update the protocols,” Nograles said without further elaborating on what changes could be made once the diagnostic testing kits arrive.
Based on the Department of Health’s (DOH) triage system, those who are showing symptoms of the disease, or had travelled to countries infected with Covid-19, and who had contact with a confirmed Covid-19 case will be prioritized for testing.
These individuals will immediately be classified as either a person under monitoring (PUM) or a patient under investigation (PUI). A PUM refers to one with no symptoms but has had a history of travel to China in the past 14 days while a PUI refers to one with symptoms such as fever, cold, and cough and has a history of travel to China in the past 14 days.
The Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) is the main facility conducting diagnostic tests for Covid-19, but other hospitals as well such as the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center in Cebu City, Southern Philippines Medical Center in Davao City, Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center in Benguet, and San Lazaro Hospital in Manila.
Currently, the University of the Philippines-Manila’s National Institutes of Health is in the process of reproducing Covid-19 testing kits.
The DOH said there are over 200 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the country with more than a dozen deaths and seven cases of recovery. The country is currently under a state of public health emergency and a state of calamity due to the highly-infectious disease which originated from Wuhan City in China in December last year.
The World Health Organization declared the Covid-19 outbreak a pandemic which means a worldwide spread of a new disease. Fever, cough, and shortness of breath are among the symptoms of Covid-19. In more severe cases, the infection can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome and death. (Azer Parrocha)
Nograles’ remark came amid calls for mass Covid-19 diagnostic testing and criticism that politicians, including President Duterte, his partner and child; and his family, including other personalities were allowed to undergo Covid-19 testing despite being asymptomatic.
“With the arrival of new kits either purchased or donated then there is a chance that the IATF (Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases) may change the protocols or update the protocols,” Nograles said without further elaborating on what changes could be made once the diagnostic testing kits arrive.
Based on the Department of Health’s (DOH) triage system, those who are showing symptoms of the disease, or had travelled to countries infected with Covid-19, and who had contact with a confirmed Covid-19 case will be prioritized for testing.
These individuals will immediately be classified as either a person under monitoring (PUM) or a patient under investigation (PUI). A PUM refers to one with no symptoms but has had a history of travel to China in the past 14 days while a PUI refers to one with symptoms such as fever, cold, and cough and has a history of travel to China in the past 14 days.
The Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) is the main facility conducting diagnostic tests for Covid-19, but other hospitals as well such as the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center in Cebu City, Southern Philippines Medical Center in Davao City, Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center in Benguet, and San Lazaro Hospital in Manila.
Currently, the University of the Philippines-Manila’s National Institutes of Health is in the process of reproducing Covid-19 testing kits.
The DOH said there are over 200 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the country with more than a dozen deaths and seven cases of recovery. The country is currently under a state of public health emergency and a state of calamity due to the highly-infectious disease which originated from Wuhan City in China in December last year.
The World Health Organization declared the Covid-19 outbreak a pandemic which means a worldwide spread of a new disease. Fever, cough, and shortness of breath are among the symptoms of Covid-19. In more severe cases, the infection can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome and death. (Azer Parrocha)
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