Concepcion: Millions of Pinoys should be tested

MANILA, Philippines — Mass testing is key to containing the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and accelerating economic recovery, Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship and Go Negosyo founder Joey Concepcion said yesterday.

“Test, test, test and isolate is the only way to save the jobs and livelihoods of our Filipino people,” Concepcion said at a Balik Kabuhayan webinar with health experts, government officials and businessmen.

“To date, Project ARK has tested 107,782 individuals, with private companies carrying out 66,617 tests and LGU partners finishing 41,665 tests. We have to test millions of people. That’s the only way to create visibility,” he said.

“The revelation here is early on, there was a debate to test only symptomatic and not asymptomatic. The results from the private sector showed that if we did not test the asymptomatic, then this could have escalated to a worse situation,” Concepcion said.

“As we open more of our economy, we need to create more visibility and come up with a defense strategy to co-exist with the virus. We have to maintain our GCQ status and eventually move to MGCQ,” Concepcion maintained, referring to general community quarantine and modified general community quarantine.

Rep. Joey Salceda, one of the panelists, said opportunities abound and that confidence is vital to attaining goals.

“Focus on secular, keep the powder dry versus opportunity for quick recovery, build structural reforms and seize low-lying fruits,” Salceda said.

ARK PCR private sector chief implementor Janette Garin said Project ARK’s mission is to make testing affordable, available and accessible.

“Ideally from P1,500-P2,000 we aim to further reduce the cost of testing to P350 to P375 by the end of July via pooled testing,” she said.

“When a workplace becomes infected or exposed, operations have to be suspended. This means loss of income, difficult life; small businesses will close down. When health meets the economy, when testing fills the gap in making social distancing, hygiene practices and other new normal behaviors more effective, we can co-exist with COVID,” she added.