MINDANAO DAILY TRUTH. JUSTICE. PROGRESS.
Volume IX, No. 251
www.mindanaodailynews.com
P15.00
Sat-Sun, March 28-29, 2020
Chambers propose mass screening with RST to curb COVID-19 spread By MIKE BAÑOS Editor at Large
THE Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry today endorsed to President Rodrigo Duterte a resolution from its affiliate chambers in Mindanao urging the ramping up of mass screening of possible COVID-19 cases in the country through the adoption of the Rapid Serologic Test (RST) as a surveillance tool. In its letter to the president coursed through Executive Secretary Salvador C. Medialdea dated today, PCCI President Amb. Benedicto V. Yujuico also requested the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to grant Emergency Use Authority to the application for registration of verifiable suppliers of RST kits, and to set up “PCR Sub-National Reference Laboratories” in © RITM Researchers at the Research Institute of Tropical Medicine prepare to load reagents into a real-time PCR all regions of Mindanao. machine as they check their testing kits for the Zika virus “We urgently need to check the health of our on Wednesday, February 3.
communities and this is only possible using mass testing in the field. Having statistics of sick patients in the hospital is just too late,” said Ma. Teresa R. Alegrio, PCCI area vice president for Mindanao. “We need to know actual cases in the field even before they become symptomatic or no longer symptomatic (unknowingly healed) to make targeted decisions before they even get to hospitals,” she added. PCCI is advocating the immediate rollout of the mass screening program using RST by local government units in partnership with national agencies, Philippine Red Cross and other NGOs starting with all PUIs awaiting access to PCR testing, all PUMs, vulnerable persons within the vicinity of a cluster of Covid-19 outbreak, and among front liners in the hospital and in the field. See MASS, page 11
152 Stranded foreign Tourists in R-10 take off in a recovery Flight By ERCEL MAANDIG
The US Center for Disease Control & Prevention is distributing 1.1 million PCR test kits in a bid to curb the COVID-19 pandemic in the US. (techcrunch.com)
Cagayan de Oro-Acting on the request of the Department of Tourism (DoT) Undersecretary for Tourism
AFTER one of the world’s largest initial outbreaks outside China, South Korea has managed to bring daily new cases into relative decline without imposing draconian nationwide lockdown measures. Comparing Italy to South Korea shows how dramatic the differences can be. On March 1, Italy had only 1,701 cases and 41 deaths, while South Korea had 3,736 cases and 21
testing, rigorous contact tracing, and mandatory quarantine for anyone near a carrier of the virus. The country, with a population of 51 million, tests more than 20,000 people a day at more than 600 testing sites nationwide, while integrating apps that not only track individuals if they have tested positive, but also warn them if they might have been exposed to a known case.
Regulation, Coordination and Rescue Generation USEC Arturo P.Boncato Jr. through the facilitation of DOT-10 Regional Director, May Salvana - Unchuan, Gov.
How South Korea tamed COVID-19 deaths. Three weeks later, on March 22, Italy’s caseload had exploded to 59,138, with 5,476 deaths, while South Korea’s total caseload had merely doubled to 8,897, with 104 deaths. https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/03/23/ coronavirus-pandemicsouth-korea-italy-masstesting-covid 19-will-keepspreading/ The key to South Korea’s success has been speed and an early push toward mass
Yevgeny Vincente”Bambi” Emano gave permission last Wednesday for a “Recovery Flight” take off at around 3:30 in the afternoon from the Laguindingan Airport
in Misamis Oriental to carry 152 foreign passengers who have been stranded in Cagayan de Oro City and Misamis Oriental and other See STRANDED, page 11
From a peak of 909 cases in February 29, South Korea has seen a decline of its COVID-19 cases since March 11 to as low as 74-76 daily. https://www.nbcnews.com/ news/world/how-southkorea-flattened-its-coronavirus-curve-n1167376 South Korea flattened the curve for new cases by ramping up its testing ca- Medical workers in protective gear take samples from a pacity to the current 20,000 driver with suspected symptoms of COVID-19 at a drivepeople a day at 633 sites, thru test facility in Goyang, north of Seoul, on Feb. 29. See TAMED, page 11
JUNG YEON-JE(AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES)