Concepcion: Rapid test not cause of COVID-19 surge

MANILA, Philippines — Presidential Adviser on Entrepreneurship and Go Negosyo founder Joey Concepcion, who is spearheading the mass testing initiative Project Antibody Rapid test Kit (ARK), disagreed with some medical groups that claimed rapid antibody test could be blamed for the rising COVID-19 cases.

“I beg to disagree totally. The reason is basically we were not testing asymptomatic people much earlier. We were only testing symptomatic people,” he said in an online briefing yesterday.

Concepcion made the comment after being asked if Project ARK would drop the use of rapid test kits and push for pooled polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests instead as medical groups said in their open letter to President Duterte that inappropriate use of rapid antibody tests to detect the coronavirus may be responsible for the surge in cases as rapid tests miss more than half of people with active, contagious illness.

He said antibody rapid tests and PCR tests are both good and it would be up to companies and local government units (LGUs) to decide whether they want to use both or just one test.

“So with pooled testing and antibody testing, it is up to the companies on how they want to employ it. It is up to the LGUs on how they want to employ it. So DOH (Department of Health) is not banning the LGUs from using antibody test kits because it has a purpose, especially in finding who had past infections,” he said.

Project ARK medical team leader Dr. Minguita Padilla said antibody tests serve a purpose.

“It has its uses. It is also good for surveillance to find out who in the population has had the disease,” she said, noting rapid test kits should be used in compliance with strict medical protocols and to be aware of its limitations.

Concepcion said firms may opt to use antibody tests or pooled PCR or PCR alone and what is important is to have frequent testing as a strategy, given the high level of infections.

Project ARK has partnered with the Philippine Society of Pathologists Inc. and Philippine Children’s Medical Center to confirm the validity of pooled tests or putting swab samples of multiple individuals into a single PCR test and the results of the research would be released next week.

Concepcion said the pilot implementation of the pooled PCR tests would start in Makati City next week after the results of the research are out.

Apart from Makati City, Project ARK plans to implement pooled PCR tests with other LGUs in Metro Manila.

Pooled PCR testing is seen as a game changer as it would help bring down the costs of tests per individual, as well as lead to faster turnaround time.

Apart from testing, Concepcion is pushing for a shift to granular lockdown.

“Bringing innovation into testing is very important for us because this is the only weapon we have to create visibility. By creating visibility, then we know what areas or barangays to lock down and that’s very important. I believe our mayors are the most capable people in determining where to lock down,” he said.

In Cavite, Bacoor Mayor Lani Mercado, General Trias Mayor Antonio Ferrer and Imus Mayor Emmanuel Maliksi are using the localized and granular lockdown approach and conducting targeted testing to contain the spread of the virus.

Mercado said most of the cases in Bacoor involve employees from the National Capital Region.

As there has been local transmission of the virus, she said the LGU has implemented a lockdown of a barangay, the Hall of Justice and the public market to prevent further spread of the disease.

Project ARK has partnered with the cities of Bacoor, General Trias, Imus and Dasmariñas for the conduct of tests.