MANILA, Philippines — The National Task Force (NTF) against COVID-19 assured the public that the government is ready and prepared to intensify its testing and contact tracing effort against the deadly viral disease.
“Doon naman po sa ating detection, isolation, treatment, lahat po iyan ay automatic na paiigtingin kapag tumataas ang kaso at tumataas ang alert level,” said Secretary Vince Dizon, Presidential Adviser for COVID-19 Response.
With the implementation of Alert Level 3 in Metro Manila, Secretary Dizon said that the government will intensify the prevention, detection, isolation, treatment, and reintegration strategy to contain the spread of the virus in the country amid the threat of the COVID-19 Omicron variant.
Dizon said this is the fourth surge that the country is experiencing.
He is confident that by this time, the country will be able to survive the sudden increase of COVID-19 cases.
Dizon said the Department of Health is also preparing for the distribution of testing kits to laboratories; while the Department of the Interior and Local Government will begin to renew the services of contact tracers.
The government is also in the process of hiring health workers in cases hospitals reach full capacity due to the spike in infections.
Experts are also looking into allowing self-antigen testing to avoid long queues in testing facilities.
“Iyon pong pagbibigay ng personal na responsibilidad sa ating mga kababayan, tingin ko sa halos dalawang taon na nating pinagdadaanan, tingin ko importante rin na i-consider natin ng maigi iyan kagaya ng ginagawa nila sa ibang bansa. Pero pinag-aaralan po iyan ng ating mga eksperto ngayon,” Dizon said.
The testing czar is confident that the country has a sufficient number of laboratories for the influx of individuals undergoing COVID-19 testing. —/mbmf (from the report of UNTV Correspondent Aileen Cerrudo)
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