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‘Coronavirus testing kits must be available in all hospitals’ – Zubiri
The Philippines has only 2,000 available COVID-19 testing kits, as revealed by Dr. Rosanna Ditangco of the Research Institute on Tropical Medicine (RITM) during a Senate inquiry.
RITM is requesting an additional P43 million in funding to procure more testing kits and address other needs.
A Department of Health official stated that an additional 4,500 extraction kits are arriving from the World Health Organization (WHO), which will be sufficient for 2,000 individuals.
Senator Nancy Binay expressed alarm over the low number of testing kits, questioning the country's preparedness for local transmission given its large population.
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The Department of Health (DOH) acknowledges the possibility of underreporting COVID-19 cases due to a limited supply of testing kits.
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The Office of the President is prepared to fund the intensified production of COVID-19 test kits.
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The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a COVID-19 testing kit developed by the University of the Philippines (UP) that can provide results in less than two hours.
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Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri is urging the government to immediately mass-produce COVID-19 test kits developed by the University of the Philippines-National Institute of Health (UP-NIH) after they received approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
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The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the use of COVID-19 test kits developed by scientists from the University of the Philippines-National Institute of Health (UPNIH), marking a significant step in the country's diagnostic capabilities.
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