Delays hamper accuracy of data, experts say

As the Department of Health (DoH) shifted to a new classification of cases, a study conducted by an independent organization showed that delays have affected the accuracy of data with more cases possibly unreported.

University of the Philippines experts from the Scientists Unite Against COVID-19, an independent organization, cited that delays in the release of results and validation could cause implications on interventions such as contact tracing and local policy decisions.

In terms of the completion of the testing process, researchers Martin Belen and Joshua Danac found that because the processing of test results took more than its expected turnaround time, about two-thirds of the cases have been backlogs in the laboratory as of data from 10 June.

They said that ideally, RT-PCR tests take about one to two days for samples to be processed.

“Ideally, samples are processed as quickly as possible because of the lability of RNA; for RT-PCR, the turnaround time is expected to be one to two days,” they said.

On the other hand, the case validation based on their study of the Health Department’s available data took three to 4.8 days before it was confirmed to be a COVID-19 positive or negative individual.

The DoH earlier explained that cases were validated by the epidemiological bureau to make sure that no duplication of cases has occurred on the total tally especially on those with similar names.

Belen and Danac also cited that in their study of the data, the date of onset of illness in some cases was also missing.