A member of a research group from the University of the Philippines disproved the government’s claim that the country has the best coronavirus testing record in Asia.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque on Tuesday claimed that the Philippines has “the best testing policy in the whole of Asia and probably in the whole world” because it has screened 3 million out of its around 100 million people for the virus.
UP-OCTA Research fellow Fr. Nicanor Austriaco said it was not the case, when asked about his response to the pronouncement of the Palace’s spokesperson.
“Respectfully to the Secretary, many of the countries especially in north Asia, have had such robust testing and contact tracing protocols that their pandemics never really exploded in the way that ours did in July,” he said in an interview.
“We are testing so much, and yet the total number of cases is quite high here in the Philippines, sadly,” he added.
The Philippines has the 21st biggest caseload worldwide, according to a dashboard by the Johns Hopkins University.
