MANILA – The Department of Health (DOH) has denied that it is giving special treatment to politicians and government officials in the testing for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
DOH undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said Monday that most of the reported personalities who were tested for COVID-19 were all qualified.
“Gusto ko lang linawin, hindi napapabayaan ‘yung ating patients under investigation. Lahat naman inaasikaso,” Vergeire told DZBB. “‘Yun pong mga sinasabi nilang na-test na mga officials, most of them pasok sa criteria.”
Vergeire said some government officials were being allowed to be tested due to national security reasons despite the lacking of COVID-19 testing kits.
Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles, meanwhile, said that guidelines were in place in the conduct of COVID-19 testing to ensure fairness and it should be followed.
“Walang lamangan, walang gulangan. Iyom naman po ang ating mensahe,” Nograles said during the Laging Handa media briefing on Monday morning.
According to the DOH, only persons under investigation in severe to critical condition must undergo testing for COVID-19. Asymptomatic patients with exposure history must undergo 14-day home quarantine.
Meanwhile, after drawing flak for his Facebook post where he said he tested negative for the COVID-19, Senator Francis Tolentino said that he was forced to undergo testing after developing symptoms.
In a statement on Sunday evening, the neophyte senator apologized after his social media post did not sit well with the netizens, who were calling for mass testing for the COVID-19.
“If I came out positive, [I] will also post so the people who came near me would know the result whether positive or negative. My apologies to those offended,” Tolentino said in a statement.
Tolentino was one of the senators who underwent self-quarantine after he had a close contact with fellow senator Sherwin Gatchalian, who conducted a Senate hearing earlier this month were one of the resource person was tested positive for the virus.
The hashtag #NoToVIPTesting trended on Twitter on Sunday night as netizens protested against politicians who were tested for COVID-19 despite the limited number of test kits in the country, decrying the politicians’ disregard for the DOH triage algorithm for the disease./PN
