MANILA, Philippines — How the PBA referee got infected with COVID-19 while in a bubble needs to be determined, according to the Department of Health (DOH).
“Even though you’re inside the bubble nakita natin nagkaroon ng infection. We still have to find out papaano nakapasok when they are inside bubble,” Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said in a virtual briefing yesterday.
“Ang recommendation natin ay minimum health standards, regular monitoring, immediate isolation of those with symptoms or positive by RT-PCR tests,” Vergeire added.
Vergeire cautioned the PBA against classifying the case of the referee as “false positive.”
To have accurate evidence to determine whether it’s false negative or false positive, Vergeire said another laboratory test must be undertaken.
She said the cycle threshold (CT) must also be checked to determine the viral load of the patient.
“It might be that the patient, when tested with antigen, was only pre-symptomatic or viral load is not that high. So kailangan i-test agad ng RT-PCR,” Vergeire explained.
Vergeire said the referee should be tested immediately using RT-PCR to get the accurate result.