Govt eyes 30K daily COVID-19 tests by May 30

The Philippine government aims to increase its daily COVID-19 testing capacity to 30,000 by May 30, aligning with global standards.

Vince Dizon, deputy chief implementer of the National Police against COVID-19, expressed confidence in achieving this target by the end of May.

This increased capacity would place the Philippines on par with countries like South Korea in terms of testing volume.

Dizon highlighted a 'whole nation approach' involving both government and private sector efforts to reach the goal.

The Philippine Red Cross has recently contributed an additional 8,000 tests per day to the national capacity.

While the current lab capacity is around 12,000 tests per day, actual testing is only at about 7,300, indicating a need to maximize utilization.

Maximizing this capacity requires significant effort down to the local government unit level.