
Testing will save lives and livelihoods
We
are taking important steps forward in reviving the economy while fighting hard
against COVID-19 at all fronts. Having undergone weeks of quarantine, we,
indeed, have made great sacrifices, yet more will be asked from each of us
still.
As an advisor to the president on entrepreneurship and as an entrepreneur, I
strongly believe that the lockdown imposed by President Duterte in early March
was timely and necessary. Chief Implementer Sec. Carlito Galvez and Deputy
Chief Implementer Vince Dizon have proven to be an effective tandem, leading
the way in setting up the much-needed quarantine centers and procuring all that
is needed to prepare the country. Both have supported us and the private sector
in helping improve the testing capacity of the Department of Health, which we
are also responding to.
Through the Project ARK-PCR initiative, we have reached out to many private
sector partners. Through their generous donations, we have raised funds for
rapid antibody testing, PCR tests, and medical equipment that have already
arrived from China last week. These important tests and tools are making their
way to several hospitals around the country, helping them in their individual
community battles, while bringing up the national testing capacity. Go
Negosyo’s Project ARK-PCR Initiative and partner companies will increase the
testing capacity of the country to an additional 24,000 swab tests per day by
the end of June, complementing the government’s RT-PCR testing efforts. This,
combined with the efforts between the government through DOH and the Philippine
Red Cross, will help ramp up our PCR testing capacity to 50,000 tests per day
by the end of June.
Helping in combatting COVID-19, Project ARK is now joined by close to 300
companies bringing in about 1.2 million antibody rapid test kits. These will be
used to help identify those with the disease and direct them to the appropriate
health facilities for treatment. This has been effective as well in providing
us granular data to help us plan the next steps as we slowly reopen the
economy.
Our next steps will be based on understanding risk and outcomes, safety, and
possibilities. And we can make the best decisions using data that are collected
and shared. Every day we learn new things about this disease - how it affects
the body, how it survives and attacks, and how it targets the most vulnerable.
And this is why testing, tracing, and treatment are so important. With more
data, we can achieve greater visibility and our decisions can be guided
accordingly by facts and science.
If the lockdown was a sweeping first step in mitigating the virus, our next
line of action will be more surgical and strategic, because any succeeding
flare-ups will be dealt with swiftly. It is critical that we test, trace, and
treat. Project ARK has taken the steps to boost testing, while the government
has made great strides, under the leadership of Sec. Galvez, to construct more
COVID-19 facilities. On contact tracing, a study estimates that we can reduce
the need for testing by a factor of 10, and this has also been relayed to
Congress.
As we prepare for life after lockdown, the UP Pandemic Response Team has also
proposed using a simplified computation based on a Time Varying Reproduction
Number, or R(t), which measures “how fast the virus is growing” and “the
average number of people who become infected by an infectious person.” The US
uses this approach in its decision-making, and its data is shared in real-time
on rt.live. We can adopt the same approach here. Though not an exact science, it
is useful and can be used by the IATF and LGUs until a cure or vaccine is
found. This approach is in line with my recommendations to the President, made
a few weeks ago, in shifting towards barangay-level lockdowns, which empowers
local leaders to protect their people and communities.
Let us be optimistic and proactive. This is why we are vigilant, pushing for
more testing at companies and LGUs to help create greater visibility. We will
also conduct a seroprevalence test on top of what companies are doing. The data
gathered will allow better mapping of infections all over the country, and it
will serve as the basis for the decisions by LGU leaders with regards to
lockdowns. However, this time, the lockdown approach will be more focused,
opting for selective barangay quarantines so that commerce can continue.
As we gain more information and better understand the disease, we must
constantly evaluate and recalibrate our plans and methods. Again, we do not
know everything about this disease and are adjusting strategy as more
information comes in. We are making the best decisions now based on what we
know and have now.
The efforts of both the government and the private sector are basically focused
on saving lives and livelihoods. The only way we can open the economy safely is
to create greater visibility. Creating visibility is to do a lot of testing.
Targeted mass testing is our approach, whether we use RT-PCR or rapid test
kits, whatever testing methods are available out there that give us good
visibility is what we have to do.
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