The Philippines was doing the right thing when it comes to focusing its limited testing capabilities on people that are already showing symptoms of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) as they are more contagious, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.

Dr. Rabindra Abeyasinghe, a WHO representative to the Philippines, said on the Malacañang briefing that, “Ninety percent of the disease is transmitted by symptomatic people. We need to focus expressly on those symptomatic people to maximize the benefit of the enhanced community quarantine that is being implemented.”

Abeyasinghe said that those people who have pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) should also be tested.

Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome or ARDS is a kind of lung damage where fluid fills the lungs. Also, this is is always observed in severe COVID-19 cases.

Dr. Abeyasinghe said, “Our recommendations are that the limited testing that is available be used to strengthen the testing of people who are symptomatic with severe disease,”

He said that testing symptomatic patients will not only help in the management of their case but also in quick contact tracing “to further limit the transmission.”

Also, there is an important need to contact-trace people who are at risk for severe symptoms of COVID-19.

The Department of Health said that early detection raises the chance of surviving any illness. Somehow, there was a report that doctors were suggesting that those who lose their sense of taste and smell must undergo a self-quarantine. However, Dr. Abeyasinghe said that it is not yet confirmed if that is really a symptom of COVID-19.

The doctor said, “The focus should be on the clinical features of this disease – acute respiratory infection accompanied by fever and sore throat,”

Also, if you are feeling ill you should “practice physical distancing, isolate themselves from other family members.”

In addition, the use of face masks are only recommended for those who are sick and those who care for the sick such as health workers.

Early Tuesday morning, there are 501 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the Philippines. 19 of them have recovered and 33 have died from the virus.

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