NextGen Day

Negative antigen test results should be allowed as a travel condition for persons arriving in the country, according to Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion’s recommendation to the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF).

Concepcion said during the Go Negosyo’s Booster to the Max Townhall on Friday, “I believed the idea of antigen testing before departure within 24 hours is acceptable enough to bring comfort.”

Antigen testing, albeit less sensitive than the gold standard reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), can be used to determine whether a virus-infected person is contagious.

Concepcion said that antigen test “may not be as perfect as an RT-PCR” test, but an RT-PCR test conducted too early or too late “may also not be effective”.

In the United States, he said, a negative antigen test result is now accepted.

“In our case, we’ll need to do an RT-PCR test 48 hours before we leave America.” This is concerning because the RT-PCR testing capacity here is at capacity, so those Filipinos returning home may have difficulty getting an appointment for the RT-PCR test,” he noted.

According to the founder of Go Negosyo, he also recommended phasing out facility-based quarantine for international arrivals in favor of home-based quarantine.

Other nations, such as Thailand and Switzerland, have begun to welcome visitors by abolishing the mandatory quarantine upon arrival.

Concepcion noted that this action would aid the country’s tourist and airline businesses in rebounding.

“We are not recommending that we immediately implement the ‘no quarantine’ policy.” “What I propose to our IATF members is a progressive reduction of quarantine in the Philippines, with a shift to home quarantine rather than facility-based quarantine,” he explained. “As omicron levels begin to decline, we may be able to gradually phase out our quarantine in our country.”

The country needs a visitor to present a negative RT-PCR test result for overseas arrivals, but they must still complete a facility-based quarantine and be screened by RT-PCR test on the fifth day.

If the RT-PCR test is negative, a person might continue to monitor themselves at home for probable Covid-19 symptoms.

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