SEN. Joel Villanueva yesterday called on the government to help bring down prices of RT-PCR tests to “reasonable levels” now that the demand for it is high.
Villanueva, chairman of the Senate Committee on Labor, said COVID-19 swab test prices “are not written in stone” and the government can order price cuts whenever market conditions warrant.
“Hindi po forever ang itinakdang presyo para sa RT-PCR test (The price for RT-PCR test should not be fixed). The bureaucracy must always be faster than the virus (in bringing down mandatory RT-PCR price ceilings),” Villanueva said.
He said low-income families are the most affected with pricey swab tests as it cost as much as the “equivalent of more than eight days’ pay. “With this, affected families would rather skip being tested than spend for them,” he added.
Villanueva said plate-based RT-PCR test taken at one’s residence is capped at P4,360, of which P1,000 is the home service fee. The lowest-priced RT-PCR test in public hospitals is at P1,000, which he said could still be “astronomical” for families which earn just enough for their basic necessities.
“Kung ang isang buong pamilya po ang tatamaan, butas talaga ang bulsa (If a family is suspected to be infected, they will have to pay a lot just to get tested),” he added.
The price hurdle, Villanueva sad, “is the culprit to undertesting that leads to undercounting, and in turn distorts the true picture of the pandemic.”
On November 2020, President Duterte signed Executive Order 118 which directs the Department of Health and the Department of Trade and Industry to come up with a price range for RT-PCR testing. The present prices are set by DOH Circular No. 374 which took effect on Sept. 7, 2021.
The circular set the price caps for RT-PCR tests at P2,800 for plate-based, and P2,450 for GeneExpert in public laboratories; and P3,360 for plate-based and P2,940 for GeneXpert in private laboratories.
Former Sen JV Ejercito urged the Sangguniang Kabataan to use portions of their funds to procure COVID-19 home care kits for the nation’s youths infected with the virus.
He said under the General Appropriations Act of 20221., more than P19.18 billion worth of funds were allotted for the SK.
He said the SK can use the funds since Section 20 of RA 10742 or the SK Law states that 10 percent of the barangay general fund shall be set aside for the SK which would be “disbursed solely for youth development and empowerment purposes.”
He said President Duterte can issue an Executive Order to guide local government units in the “immediate utilization” of the SK funds for COVID-19 response.
Likewise, he added, the department of budget, health, and interior can issue implementing rules and regulations in support of the proposed EO.
Meanwhile, the DOH yesterday advised fully vaccinated individuals who have just recovered from COVID-19 to get their booster shots as soon as possible.
In an advisory, the DOH said: “Cases have been on the rise lately. If you happen to have COVID-19 or experienced COVID-19 like symptoms, here is a simple checklist to know if you can already get your boosters.”
“If you have checked all of these points, you are good to go! Now, go get the jab done,” it said.
The DOH said COVID-19 survivors may already get their booster shots if they have finished their prescribed isolation period.
In addition, it said survivors may get boosters if they did not have fever for the last 24 hours even without taking fever medications.
The DOH also said that booster jabs maybe availed if their respiratory symptoms have improved.
Finally, it said that individuals must have been fully vaccinated for at least three months from AstraZeneca, Moderna, Pfizer, Sinovac, or Sputnik; or two months from a single dose of Janssen.
Data shows that there are already 55.19 million individuals are fully vaccinated in the Philippines.
Meanwhile, the DOH said 4.91 million people have received their booster shots.
Manila Mayor and presidential aspirant Isko Moreno suggested that the national government work with companies running toll roads to use toll booths as drive-thru vaccination sites against the COVID-19 virus so as to maximize the coverage of the inoculation program amid the continuing spike in COVID cases in the country.
Moreno said he came up with the idea after observing that thousands of those who get vaccinated in Manila came from as far as Bataan and Quezon provinces.
“There is even one who came all the way from Mariveles in Bataan,” Moreno told reporters after his inspection of the soon-to-open vaccination site at the Bagong Ospital ng Maynila. — With Gerard Naval and Ashzel Hachero
