(SunStar) THE Department of Health (DOH) on Monday, August 9, 2021, urged local government units (LGUs) using rapid antigen tests (RAT) to boost active case finding efforts to submit complete reports.

Although the government has allowed the use of RATs in areas with rising cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire admitted that this poses a data collection challenge as RAT results mostly go unreported.

She said they have been telling LGUs in the past few weeks to submit reports on RATs conducted.

“There should be complete reporting so we can see the overall picture (of the Covid-19 situation) in the country…The report should be complete and timely so we can provide an accurate picture of the situation,” Vergeire said.

An area’s Covid-19 case count impacts on its risk and quarantine classification, which is based on the two-week growth rate and average daily attack rate, among others. The lower the number of cases and rate of increase, the less stringent the quarantine classification is.

he DOH allowed in March 2021 the use of RATs in the NCR Plus, which was then experiencing a surge in infections. NCR Plus is composed of the National Capital Region and the provinces of Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna and Rizal.

On August 6, Vergeire also announced that RATs may be used in areas placed under Alert Level 3 and 4 to support active case finding efforts.

She said they have already instructed testing laboratories nationwide to include the RAT kits used in its reports. The laboratories, however, use the reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test to detect Sars-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19.