DOH advises all inbound travelers to undergo COVID-19 test twice

All inbound travelers to the Philippines have been advised to undergo COVID-19 test twice to make sure they are not infected with the coronavirus, the Department of Health (DOH) said.

In a public briefing on Saturday, DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said inbound passengers should be tested on the fifth day to seventh day  from their arrival in the country.

“Yung dumadating natin na pasahero na nagnenegatibo, maaari po nababalitaan natin, biglang positibo na pagdating sa local government,” she said.

“And we need to prevent this and avoid this to happen, kaya po naglagay tayo ng ganyang measure so that we can be more accurate in our testing implementation,” she added.

According to Vergeire, the viral load in a COVID-19 patient peaks on the fifth to seventh day of the infection.

“Ang paliwanag po dyan dahil alam po natin na ang isang tao na kapag siya ay na-expose sa virus ay hindi naman po siya agad-agad magso-show ng symptoms o hindi agad-agad magpopositibo sa test,” she said.

“Ang appropriate time po para tayo ay makakuha ng positibo or maging accurate ang test natin is on the fifth to seventh day kasi dyan po pinakamataas ang load ng virus sa isang tao whether asymptomatic or symptomatic,” she added.

On Saturday, flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) informed air passengers about the new health protocols of the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Management of Emerging and Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) .

Effective January 23, PAL said passengers arriving in the Philippines from countries covered by the travel restrictions shall be given RT-PCR testing upon arrival and shall be given the option to avail of a second swab test on their fifth day of quarantine.

Passengers arriving in the Philippines are required to register on Case Investigation Forms depending on their traveler type and port of entry, PAL added. —LBG, GMA News