3,574 COVID Cases Logged as DOH Caps Prices of Rapid Antigen Tests

On Year 3 of the pandemic.
Photo/s: Jerome Ascano undefined

The Philippines logged 3,574 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday as the Department of Health put a price cap on antigen tests to prevent overpricing.

The day's tally brought active cases to 105,550. The DOH also reported 14,644 new recoveries and 83 deaths reported.

Overall, a total of 3,619,633 COVID-19 cases have been reported since the pandemic began in March 2020, of which 3,459,462 have recovered and 54,621 died.

The P350 price ceiling for antigen tests will take effect starting Feb. 20.

According to DOH, the cap for COVID-19 antigen testing service will be at P660, inclusive of the P350 limit for a test kit, P250 for operational cost, and P60 as a 10% allowable mark-up.

The government is targeting to vaccinate some 13.5 million children 5 to 11 to slow the spread of COVID-19. As of Sunday, some 160,000 children aged five to 11 years have so far been registered for the pilot vaccination of children in Metro Manila, said vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr.

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Only one in 9,000 kids in the age group had minor side effects from the vaccine—milder than cases reported abroad, Dr. Anna Ong-Lim of the Department of Health Technical Advisory Group told reporters earlier on Tuesday.

A total of 780,000 Pfizer doses for use on the youngest age group eligible for inoculation so far arrived last Friday.

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