MANILA, Philippines — As infections in the country continue to surge, Malacañang on Wednesday promised "major changes" in government response to the novel coronavirus crisis.
"People will see the difference in our approach to the pandemic. It is thoroughly invigorated," Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque told CNN Philippines.
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Roque went on to tout the government's plans to conduct pooled testing come August, which he said would boost the country's testing capabilities by as much as ten times, and to build more isolation facilities along with "an army" of contact tracing volunteers.
He explained that pooled testing entails testing 10 to 20 individuals using one RT-PCR kit. If the results comes back positive, then each person is tested individually.
According to Roque, the implementation of pooled testing could cut the cost of tests from about P3,000 per person to P300.
"As soon as we fully implement pooled testing, you will see a major decrease in case doubling and reproduction rates," he promised the public.
Roque added that the pilot run for pooled testing would begin immediately after new classifications are announced by the end of the month.
The COVID-19 task force spokesman was unwilling to divulge if, or how, lockdown restrictions might be changed come August, instead he said " we have to rely less on community quarantine classifications."
Metro Manila, a living experiment
He added that these changes would mark a departure from the status quo, saying that "Metro Manila will be a living experiment...that we believe we can be successful at and be proud of."
The capital region has consistently accounted for the highest portion of daily infections, with experts marking an upward trend in its COVID-19 cases.
Former COVID-19 task force adviser doctor Tony Leachon has urged that NCR be reverted to a stricter enhanced community quarantine for two weeks given the rise in infections.
Mathemathics professor Guido David, a member of the UP OCTA Research group, has also said that tightening quarantine restrictions would help the region as other measures such as randomized testing and localized lockdowns are not sufficiently curbing the rise in cases.
David on Monday warned that COVID-19 cases could reach 90,000 by the end of July and 140,000 by the end of August.
This amendment to the research group's forecast was made after it became clear that the country was likely to surpass a previous prediction of 85,000 by end-July.
Roque on Wednesday confirmed this likely outcome, saying: "Those who made fun of my excitement, you got what you wanted. I see no reason why we should celebrate."
He was referring to his previous celebration of "beating" a UP forecast which drew widespread criticism.
However, citizens at the time were criticizing Roque for what they believed to be the insensitive nature of his remarks, not because they wanted infections to go up.
As it stands, the country has been under community quarantine for 134 days — the longest quarantine period in the world.
Cases are still rising, with the health department logging over 2,000 cases new cases four days in a row from last Thursday to last Sunday.
On Tuesday, the DOH placed the national caseload at 83,673 and fatalities at 1,947. — Bella Perez-Rubio