The government’s COVID-19 task force is tracking down about 15,000 individuals who are potential carriers of coronavirus disease.
According to Carlito Galvez Jr., the National Task Force COVID-19 Response Chief Implementor, the 15,000 is based on the Department of Health’s current data on confirmed COVID-19 cases and fatalities in the country.
The task force is trying to catch up with its backlog in testing individuals who might have been infected by the pandemic virus.
“Meron pa kaming 15,000 na hinahanap. ‘Yun ang parang nakita natin, ‘yung 15,000 na ‘yun ang tinatawag natin na backlog natin in real sense,” Galvez said in an interview with dzMM.
(We are still looking for 15,000 suspected cases. That’s what we consider as a backlog in real sense.)
According to the new classification of DOH, a COVID-19 “suspect” is a person who has symptoms of the respiratory illness and has traveled or resided in a hotspot of the disease or has had exposure to a confirmed or probable COVID-19 carrier.
Galvez said that of the 15,000 potential coronavirus carriers, around 5,000 to 8,000 are residing in Metro Manila.
The official also said that the government is set to buy one million test kits to test more persons suspected to have been infected by the disease.
Health Undersecretary Ma. Rosario Vergeire also said earlier DOH would procure test kits enough for three months.
Also read: Hospital bill of COVID-19 patient reaches P1.3 million
New classification for patients screened for COVID-19
DOH on Saturday issued a new classification system for persons being checked for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
Under Administrative Order No. 2020-0013, the DOH changed the classification to “suspect,” “probable,” and “confirmed.”
According to the new system, the DOH classifies patients with symptoms but remain untested as “suspect,” while those awaiting results are called “probable.”
Meanwhile, patients with positive results from official testing laboratories will be classified as “confirmed” cases.
“The evidence of local and community transmission of COVID-19 necessitated a review on the assessment and classification of individuals with the aim of early detection and laboratory confirmation,” DOH said in the memorandum dated Thursday, April 9.
As of April 14, the number of confirmed cases in the country surpassed the 5,000 mark, which is 5,223. The number of fatalities meanwhile is 335, and recoveries are already 295.