THERE are medical experts that discourage the use of rapid test kits to determine whether one is infected with the coronavirus or not. The kind of test is alleged to be inaccurate and is said to be helping rather than stopping the spread of the virus through false results.
Sadly, whether the allegation on its accuracy is true or not, a great number of Filipinos have relied on the rapid test rather than the swab test which experts say to be more accurate and more reliable. The claims though are yet to be proven.
Rapid tests, when conducted since the result of the pandemic, have been said to have yielded "positive" results even to those who are not positive for the virus. As alleged, the kind of test is quite sensitive that it produces "positive" to those who have other ailments or conditions such as diabetes.
Many of those who turned positive through the rapid tests have still to undergo confirmatory tests through the swab test. A number of them turned "negative" after undergoing the latter test, opposite the results on the rapid test.
One of the factors why people opted to undergo rapid tests is the price. Rapid test kits cost around P400 while the swab costs much more than such. For hospitals, laboratories and clinics that conduct the rapid test charge more for as high as P5,000.
From the raw cost of the rapid test kit, those who conduct the tests have rapid profit too because of the high mark-up. They sometimes blame the scarcity of the test kits to justify their rather onerous amount and the personnel they pay for the conduct of the tests.
Virus test results are made mandatory to some travelers and workers. Some local government units require virus test results prior to letting travelers pass through checkpoints. Some employers meanwhile require their employees to present their test results before returning to work.
Because of the high demand for the test results, enterprising entities are profiting from every test they conduct. It has been made a booming business amid the pandemic and people cannot actually complain due to the need. In the first place, there is no government regulatory body to specifically check on the price of the procedures for both the swab and the rapid tests.
In this time of the health and economic crisis, businesses should be more considerate to the public through reasonable mark-ups of their products or their services they provide to people. While there is this high demand for these tests, they have to consider the fact that a lot of people are affected economically by the pandemic.
We cannot remove the rights of businessmen to earn profit from their businesses. However, we are currently in troubled times that a lot of people all over the world are reeling from the effects of the pandemic and considerations are also necessary.
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Even before the start of the school year, after being moves from August 24 to October 5, some teachers tested positive from the virus. Its quite saddening that prior to their duties to educate school children, they have been infected.
Some are questioning the readiness of the education department of the government when classes resume by October and are asking on the contingency measures the government has for teachers. It seems that even students are very vulnerable to virus infection especially those who will undergo the modular type of education where no face-to-face classes will be implemented.
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