The Department of Health (DOH) would recommend to the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) to test travelers entering the country for Covid-19 on the seventh or eighth day of their quarantine, a health official said Wednesday.
“The viral load is high on the seventh and eighth day and for us to be able to have accurate test results at mai-isolate natin ang maysakit, ito po ang ating nirerekomenda natin ngayon (and isolate those who are sick, this is what we’re recommending at the moment),” DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said during an online media forum.
Returning Overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and other travelers entering the country are being tested on the fifth day of their quarantine upon their arrival.
“Hindi natin dini-discount ‘yung fact na mayroon na nung second, third, fourth, fifth [day] pero pinakamataas po (We’re not discounting the fact there is a viral load on the second, third, fourth, fifth but) the viral load is high on the seventh and eighth day,” Vergeire said.
“These are based on evidences, pinakita ito nina Doctor Edsel at nung iba nating (this was presented by Doctor Edsel and the other) technical advisory group (TAG) members,” she added.
On April 21, the DOH TAG for Covid-19 has recommended strict implementation of quarantine protocol on returning OFWs and proper timing for their reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing as their tests mostly yield false-negative results.
To date, the country’s cases included the highly transmissible variants – B.1.1.7 (from South Africa), B.1.3.5.1 (from the United Kingdom), and P.1 (from Brazil). (PNA)
