MANILA – The rising number of confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases in the country is only normal as the government increased its testing efforts, testing czar Vince Dizon said.
Dizon dismissed the report by Singapore-based newspaper The Strait Times earlier this week that the Philippines is likely to become Southeast Asia’s COVID-19 hotspot as speculative.
“I think it’s difficult to make speculative statements like that. I’d rather not comment on the speculations made by a newspaper in another country,” Dizon said in a virtual press conference.
“What the data shows us is that since we ramped up testing we have found more positive [cases], and our people have to understand that that is normal. Dati, nung wala tayong testing, hindi tayo nakakahanap ng masyadong maraming positibo,” he added.
Dizon also noted that the Philippines has the highest test rates in Southeast Asia, with more than 30,000 COVID-19 tests being done per day.
“Ang mga ibang bansa tulad ng Indonesia, ang kanilang testing ay kalahati lang ng ginagawa nating testing ngayon… Ang Indonesia halos kalahati lang. Ang Singapore wala pa sa kalahati. Halos doble na rin tayo ng testing ng South Korea,” Dizon said.
“Habang tayo ay nagte-test, talagang mas marami tayong makikitang positibo pero mas importante ‘yon kasi kung hindi natin sila mahahanap at hindi natin sila ma-isolate ay lalong kakakat at dadami ang magkakasakit,” he added.
The Department of Health has recorded a total of 122,754 COVID-19 cases as of Friday, of which 66,852 have recovered while 2,168 have died due to the virus./PN
