DOH to miss COVID-19 testing target but capacity to increase

The Department of Health (DOH) admits it will not meet its target of conducting at least 8,000 daily COVID-19 tests by April 30, citing issues such as the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine being down for a week.

The average number of COVID-19 tests conducted daily in the country remains below 5,000, with current accredited facilities processing a maximum of 6,420 daily.

However, once a new testing facility at the Jose B. Lingad Memorial Regional Hospital in Pampanga becomes operational, the Philippines' testing capacity is expected to increase to over 9,500 tests per day.

This new laboratory, a partnership with the Asian Development Bank, is expected to conduct 3,000 tests daily and will help unload backlogs from Metro Manila testing centers.

Despite the setback, the DOH aims to reach the target capacity in the coming week with increased resources and by doubling the operating hours of subnational laboratories to 16 hours per day.

As of April 27, a total of 85,596 individuals have undergone COVID-19 testing nationwide.