The Southeast Asian nations must be ready for future outbreak of diseases since the coronavirus pandemic will not be the last, President Duterte declared Tuesday.
The President proposed the installation of an early warning system for pandemics during the virtual summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations on efforts to contain and stop the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.“COVID-19 will not be the last pandemic the world will face. We have to be ready for future outbreaks,” he said during the regional summit held online.
The Philippines has reportedly the highest number of COVID-19 infections in Southeast Asia. As of April 14, the total number COVID-19 cases rose to 5,223 while the death toll reached 335. According to Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles, the President decided to allow the use of both rapid test kits and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction diagnostic kits “in conjunction” to step up the pace of massive testing. He maintained that the laboratory-based PCR test will remain as the “gold standard” for diagnosing the disease.
“Since rapid test kits must be used in conjunction with RT-PCR, care must be exercised to not unduly consume RT-PCR kits for the sake of confirmation,” he said.
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