Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles confirmed that the treatment for COVID-19 would be shoulder by the government.
During the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) press conference, Nograles said that the treatment for COVID-19 patients should be free as it already included to the “Bayanihan to Heal as One Law,”
“Kasama sa batas na pinasa ng Kongreso at pinirmahan ng Pangulo na they will be covered,” Nograles said.
Bayanihan law includes the immediate providing of “healthcare, including medical tests and treatments, to COVID-19 patients, persons under investigation or persons under monitoring,”
The law also gave President Duterte to procure testing kits faster and other goods that are used to fight COVID-19.
It also prioritized the allocation of goods and supplies to hospitals treating COVID-19 patients.
It also provides for a ₱100,000 compensation for all health workers who may contract a severe COVID-19 infection while in the line of duty. Families of those who die while fighting the pandemic will be given ₱1 million.
Meanwhile, the Department of Health already announced that they’re going to conduct 1,000 COVID-19 tests per day.
“Pag tinotal po natin lahat ng nagagawa natin for one day, average po is about 950 to 1,000 tests per day ang ginagawa sa ating ngayon,” Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said.
“Given that we already have this testing kits that have been donated to us, ito po’ng dami ng mga testing kits na ito ay maaring sufficient na para sa ating mga kababayan sa ating present time,” she added.
However, they said that they’re still cannot do mass testing as their testing kit supply is still not enough.