We're Not Doing Enough COVID-19 Tests to Flatten the Curve

We're not doing enough testing. 

A research brief from scientists of the University of Santo Tomas (UST), which focused on the National Captial Region (NCR), says that "the NCR would need a testing capacity of 15,000 tests per day and 1,800 contact tracers working in call centers scattered throughout the region to control its local pandemic." 

The College of Science and the Faculty of Engineering at UST is also developing a design proposal to create mobile COVID-19 testing labs. 

Earlier this week, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire announced that although the estimated maximum testing capacity is 32,000, the country's actual testing capacity is only between 8,500 and 9,500 per day. 

According to UST scientists Bernhard Egwolf and Nicanor Austriaco, O.P., public health authorities should increase their efforts to contain the pandemic in Manila and Quezon City, specifically. They added that the early implementation of the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) was able to save thousands of lives in the NCR and that the curve seems to have been flattened. 

"However, the flattening of the curve is not dramatic. In fact, it is clear that the ECQ is struggling to suppress the pandemic, i.e., to drive the number of infected cases down to zero." COVID-19 cases are expected to increase once quarantine measures are eased.

On May 27, Metro Manila Mayors recommended that the nation’s capital shift into general community quarantine (GCQ) by June 1, 2020.

Based on the Department of Health's May 27 report, there are a total of 15,049 cases in the country, with 10,639 active cases, 3,506 recoveries, and 904 deaths. 

For more of our stories on the ongoing crisis, click here. For the latest news and updates on COVID-19, check out reportr.world/covid-19.