MANILA, Philippines — Antigen test results for COVID-19 in the 'NCR Plus' area will now be included in the Philippines' overall count of infections, the Department of Health said Tuesday. These, however, are not counted as only results from RT-PCR tests are included in the tally. Vergeire, however, said persons who turn out positive on antigen tests are not reported by the DOH. A gap to addressIn one exchange between Quimbo and Duque, the health secretary admitted that not including antigen test results in the country's overall count is a gap that they recognize and that needs policy review. "Given those two issues in light of the surge, our experts opted to go for antigen tests as these do not need to go through laboratories."

Source: Philippine Star March 30, 2021 11:15 UTC