COLUMN | Must Testing is next to Mass Recovery
By Irish Medalla
Cartoon by Aureus Ken Pupa
As the rapid disperse of COVID-19 continues, it is more significant to produce effective solutions for our countrymen. The sufficient amount of potent remedies can definitely ease the pain of every Filipinos’. This incorporates an enforcement of ‘free mass testing’ project among Filipino people.
With this, detecting and identifying people who are infected with the virus from those who are not, would be easier. Which will benefit everyone, especially health workers in treating those patients who are in most need of intensive care.
Aside from the patients, these COVID health professionals also do suffer. Unfortunately, some of them are slowly resigning due to anxiety, over fatigue, and those various mistreatments given to them. This is why everyone's cooperation is a necessity.
On the other hand, an anomaly between the PH government and Pharmally happened. Specifically 371,794 test kits and other COVID 19 supplies bought from the said pharmaceutical corp. arrived and were reported, expired. Which means that, the P12 Billion funds disbursed to them were also wasted. That amount of money could have just been used and allocated for some other matters that can soothe the lives of many Filipinos particularlly in these trying times.
In regards with this, the DOH already rescheduled the delivery of new testing kits last September 2021, to be used by almost 400,000 people. Though it is still not enough to provide free COVID testing for everyone throughout the year, yet some people could really benefit from it at least for now. However, it is saddening that until now, there is still no statement from them about this request for rescheduling of the said test kits.
To waste funds should not be in our minds right now that the Department of Health even reported that the entire country is back in its ‘high risk’ state in COVID 19 transmissions since the first day of the year. In fact, it is somehow alarming, this is why all of us need to be awakened that the pandemic isn't over yet and the virus is continually roaming around from time to time.
Nonetheless, these shouldn't stop the government in finding more efficient ways to produce an adequate supply of safe and usable COVID 19 testing kits, that are free to use by every Filipino person. Aside from the vaccine, mass testing is also a must, substantially nowadays with this new existing variant called ‘Omicron which is more deadly and contagious according to various research studies.
Conducting mass testing free for all is already a great start in winning this combat against these spreading viruses. No Filipino should be left behind amidst this crisis. The more people that can access to COVID testing, the faster we achieve our goal to recover.