Updated New Quarantine Procedures (Philippines)

[Jack D]

54 minutes ago, graham59 said:

More headless chicken nonsense, likely to change another half dozen times before you board a plane.

Just keep all your options open, and hope that sanity returns soon. 

I really hope so!

You would think that they would want an American to leave their country as soon as possible, since the U.S. is leading the world right now with 2 million 'known' COVID-19 cases and over 113,000 COVID-19 related deaths.

11 minutes ago, RBM said:

Two days......I have read instances where people have been waiting weeks....

Just like everything else in the Philippines... your mileage will vary.

5 minutes ago, BC57 said:

Sure about the 15 minutes? A simple google search will show various information. The US started using the rapid test kits awhile back as people drove through checkpoints.

Do you have a link to documentation showing that my very own 15 minute test (if I had one) will be accepted as a replacement for the Philippines's COVID-19 test?

[GeoffH]

2 hours ago, BC57 said:

Why not use the rapid test kit? Get results in about 15 minutes. That way nobody has to go stay at a hotel and quarantine facility.

There are two basic types of Covid tests, the antibody tests and the PCR tests.  

The 'fast' tests which give results in a short period of time test for the presence of antibodies and can determine (with a lower level of reliability) if a person has been infected for long enough to develop antibodies against the disease, they won't detect someone who is in the earlier stages of the disease.  And they will also detect someone who had the disease in the past but has now recovered.

PCR tests (which can be drive through and quick to perform) take longer for the results to come back but detect if a person currently has the virus which is what is needed for people entering a country if you want to stop infectious people coming in.

So the fast tests are no good for stopping people staying at a hotel/quarantine facility (unless you go down the whole immunity passport route and the antibody tests really aren't reliable enough for that yet).

[BC57]

31 minutes ago, GeoffH said:

There are two basic types of Covid tests, the antibody tests and the PCR tests.  

The 'fast' tests which give results in a short period of time test for the presence of antibodies and can determine (with a lower level of reliability) if a person has been infected for long enough to develop antibodies against the disease, they won't detect someone who is in the earlier stages of the disease.  And they will also detect someone who had the disease in the past but has now recovered.

PCR tests (which can be drive through and quick to perform) take longer for the results to come back but detect if a person currently has the virus which is what is needed for people entering a country if you want to stop infectious people coming in.

So the fast tests are no good for stopping people staying at a hotel/quarantine facility (unless you go down the whole immunity passport route and the antibody tests really aren't reliable enough for that yet).

That information is well explained. So is there any reason to use the rapid test at all?

[GeoffH]

6 minutes ago, BC57 said:

That information is well explained. So is there any reason to use the rapid test at all?

Some countries don't use them at all, other countries use them because they're much cheaper to administer and they've got small hospital and medical budgets.

Originally it was anticipated that they'd be able to be used as part of an immunity passport system but the number of false positives and false negatives (which varies depending upon a lot of factors) makes them of little value for that too.

IMO they're mostly just used because they're cheap and better than nothing but PCR testing remains much more useful.

 

[Tukaram (Tim)]

Well the test says if you have it now. The 14 day quarantine helps to see if you accidentally brought it with you.  I know the rules change often, but I doubt that will change any time soon. A few OFWs I know are posting pics of their boring hotel quarantines. 

[jimeve]

What's all that about? Today I went into a mall. never got asked about my age, but took a temp,  nothing new there. but the guard asked me to drop my mask so he could look at my mouth!!!!

Never been asked that before. 

[graham59]

3 minutes ago, jimeve said:

What's all that about? Today I went into a mall. never got asked about my age, but took a temp,  nothing new there. but the guard asked me to drop my mask so he could look at my mouth!!!!

Never been asked that before. 

If you'd had no teeth...like many of the over 60s locals... ? 

[Mike J]

1 minute ago, graham59 said:

If you'd had no teeth...like many of the over 60s locals... ? 

Or maybe a "snatcher" looking for dental gold. 

[jimeve]

2 minutes ago, Mike J said:

Or maybe a "snatcher" looking for dental gold. 

Won't find any gold on me apart from my wedding ring.

 

[hk blues]

5 hours ago, scott h said:

now this make less sense than a husband and wife not being able to sit at a restaurant table without barriers in place. 

If you are given a test, placed in isolation pending results, and the test is negative, why on earth would you then need to be isolated again? 

 

It's possible the test result is wrong, or even that you are infected whilst in quarantine so the "additional" quarantine period is not so unreasonable.  

Then again, they could go down the UK route and just ask you to fill in a form to say you're clear and provide a name and address that won't be verified and then trust you to stay in quarantine. Belt and braces is better than no belt at all if you ask me.