GIVEN the country’s improved testing capacity, the Department of Health (DOH) on Friday, June 12, included more frontliners and high-risk individuals in the list of persons eligible for testing for the novel coronavirus, or Sars-CoV-2.

In a statement, Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Francisco Duque III said Subgroup E and Subgroup F are now among those eligible for testing under Department Memorandum No. 2020-0285.

Under Subgroup E are personnel manning temporary treatment and quarantine facilities; personnel manning control points; national/regional/local risk reduction and management teams; and Barangay Health Emergency Response Teams and barangay officials providing barangay border control.

Also under Subgroup E are personnel of Bureau of Corrections and Bureau of Jail Management and Penology; personnel serving at swabbing centers; and social workers providing amelioration and relief assistance to communities and related tasks.

Subgroup F includes pregnant patients, dialysis patients, immunocompromised patients with human immunodeficiency virus, and those undergoing chemotherapy or radiotherapy.

Those under Subgroup F will need clearance and recommendation from their attending physicians on whether they need to be tested or not.

Already included in the government’s expanded risk-based testing program are those under Subgroups A to D.

Subgroup A are patients or healthcare workers with severe/critical symptoms, and relevant history of travel or close contact.

Subgroup B are patients or healthcare workers with mild symptoms, with relevant history of travel or close contact and who are considered vulnerable, including the elderly and those with pre-existing medical conditions that predispose them to severe presentation and complications of Covid-19.

Subgroup C are patients or healthcare workers with mild symptoms, and relevant history of travel or close contact.

Subgroup D are patients or healthcare workers with no symptoms but with relevant travel history and close contact.

As of June 10, there are 42 licensed RT-PCR laboratories and 15 licensed genexpert laboratories in the country that can process nasopharyngeal swabs for the novel coronavirus, or Sars-CoV-2, which causes Covid-19. (HDT/SunStar Philippines)