Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque is confident that the country has the best coronavirus testing policy in Asia.
As of Monday, the Philippines has tested 2.92 million individuals. Of this number, 265,888 are confirmed cases.
“Lubus-lubusan na po iyan doon sa sinasabi nilang 3% na dapat na ma-test ang population at patuloy pa po tayo. That’s clearly our biggest strength,” presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said in a media briefing.
“We clearly have the best testing policy in the whole of Asia and probably in the whole world,” he added.
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When asked what grade would he give to the government’s pandemic response. Roque said that it would be ‘very good’ he maintained that the country managed to prevent over 3 million infections because of our prompt response.
Roque said that the country’s COVID-19 mortality rate is only 1.7% and the healthcare system has so far not been overwhelmed by coronavirus cases.
“All in all, I think we deserve a very good grade. I would give it a grade of 85%,” Roque said, adding the Philippines’ contact tracing efforts need to be improved,” he added.
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He also refuted claims that health experts are not being consulted in the government’s policies. Most of the members of the Inter-Agency Task Force or IATF are military men.
“Wala pong katotohanan iyan. Ang DOH pa rin po ang tumatayong lead agency sa IATF [Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases], pinangungunahan po ng isang doktor, si Dr. [Francisco] Duque [III],” he added.
