DOH faces another 2,200 backlog in COVID-19 case reports

Published Jun 15, 2020 4:51:43 PM

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 15) – The Department of Health said Monday it has yet to clear a backlog of about 2,200 COVID-19 tests this week, citing operational issues faced by laboratories.

Health Spokesperson Maria Rosario Vergeire said the agency still needs to process more test results which have accumulated the past few days due to bottlenecks.

“Ang operational issues, hindi naman nawawala ‘yan sa bawat facility na nagpo-provide ng ganitong mga serbisyo. Itong operational issues natin logistics-wise, napakalaking bagay sa amin. Meron tayong current international shortage on the different logistical supplies na kailangan ng isang laboratoryo na hindi madaling makuha sa panahong ito,” Vergeire said.

[Translation: Facilities rendering testing services always face operational issues. These concerns on logistics are a big deal, we currently have an international shortage on the different logistical supplies which each laboratory needs but are not easy to procure at this time.]

She added that only one out of the country’s 59 laboratories has yet to clear its “fresh” and “late” case backlog, which are new categories introduced late May.

Apart from supply shortages, various testing centers also need additional manpower to fast-track the processing of samples. DOH said they are in need of additional encoders who will process case reports, with the DOH digitizing COVID-19 reporting systems.

Vergeire added that the same operational gaps also limit actual testing capacity to between 10,500 to 11,000 a day, even when rated capacity of all labs are close to 50,000 already. To maximize this, she said the government’s expanded testing protocols will be broadened to cover vulnerable members of the population as well as those who will be undergoing major surgeries, labor, chemotherapy and dialysis.

The government wants to test 1.5 percent of the population by end-July, which would be more than 1 million individuals. The government has tested 468,681 unique individuals as of June 13.

Despite this, Vergeire said the turnaround time for tests have been cut to three to five days, shorter than seven to 10 days previously.

Signs also point to rising recoveries and fewer deaths, with Vergeire attributing these trends to frontliners having more experience in battling the disease and faster reporting of cases. She explained that the sudden rise to above 10 deaths a day for the past few days was only due to late reporting of fatalities, but said that reporting these cases on the date of death will depict a downward trend for the past week.

There are 26,420 confirmed coronavirus cases in the country, with 6,252 recoveries and 1,098 deaths. Vergeire said the DOH has been “transparent” about case data amid criticisms about delays in reporting.

SOURCE: https://www.cnnphilippines.com/news/2020/6/15/DOH-2200-backlog-COVID-19-testing.html