CLARK FREEPORT -- National Action Plan Against Covid-19 Deputy Chief Implementer and Testing Czar Secretary Vince Dizon on July 14, 2020, said the country has surpassed its goal of conducting one million tests.
"Kung maaalala ninyo po, ito ang target na na-set natin noong nakaraang buwan. Ngayon po, wala pa tayo sa kalahati ng buwan ng Hulyo ay lagpas isang million na ang tests natin," Dizon said
“Pero it’s still not enough. It’s just a start. It’s reflective of the challenges that we face in the first couple of months and with the work that the Department of Health has done in the past months, napakarami na po at napakalaki na ng ating kapasidad na mag-test. Nagpapasalamat din tayo sa efforts ng lahat ng mayors ng National Capital Region dahil dito,” he added.
As of July 12, there are 85 testing laboratories nationwide from only one in February, which will further ramp up the country’s testing capacity along with the government’s aggressive implementation of the Test, Trace, Isolate, and Treat strategy.
The Philippines is also fast-approaching its target of conducting 30,000 tests per day by the end of July, with 25,000 tests conducted daily as of July 9, from 561 tests conducted per day in March.
Based on this improvement, Dizon expressed optimism that the country will be able to hit the target of conducting 10 million tests by June 2021.
“Tuloy-tuloy lang po tayo. At sa tulong ng ating LGUs (local government units) at ng private sector ay kailangang paigtingin pa natin ang ating pagte-test dahil ‘yon lang ang paraan para mahanap natin ang mga may-sakit sa ating mga komunindad at ma-isolate natin sila para hindi makahawa at mapabagal ang [pagkalat] ng Covid-19," Dizon said.