02 Sep CDO Rep. Rodriguez Urges DOH To Stop Using Rapid Tests For COVID-19 Screening
Mga higala! Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez has filed House Resolution No. 1146 that urges the Department of Health (DOH) to discourage the use of rapid antibody tests in screening individuals for COVID-19 infection!
In the said resolution, Rodriguez stated that the DOH should instead promote the use of reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests or swab tests, which is the gold standard in coronavirus testing.
He then emphasized that according to Prof. Marilen Balolong, a microbiologist and scientist at UP-Manila, RT-PCR tests are 97% accurate, which is far from the “very low” 30% to 80% reliability of rapid tests.
This is because RT-PCR tests can detect the actual presence of COVID-19 while rapid antibody tests can only detect the antibodies produced by the body in response to the virus.
Moreover, there have been plenty of reports indicating that rapid tests are producing false-positive and false-negative results.
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