DOH sees faster confirmatory tests for nCoV once primer arrives in the Philippines

The processing time of confirmatory tests for novel coronavirus infection would be faster once the primer for the virus arrives in the Philippines this week, according to the Department of Health (DOH) on Tuesday.

According to Health Undersecretary Eric Domingo, the confirmatory tests for nCoV in an Australian laboratory which usually takes about a week would be reduced by two to three days if these would be done in the country.

“Everytime we need to send some specimen to Australia it takes us about two days before we arrange it with a courier and siyempre ‘yung government ng Australia because we’re transporting potentially infectious materials,” he said.

The novel coronavirus is different from the other six known types of coronavirus and the absence of its primer renders local health authorities unable to conveniently determine the specific strain of coronavirus that affects the persons under investigation (PUIs) in the country.

“We already identified suppliers outside of China that produces the primers and we already got the import permit from the FDA,” Domingo said.

“We believe in the next 48 hours we’ll be able to have that test available here,” he added.

In the meantime, the DOH is awaiting results of confirmatory tests from Australia’s Victorian Infectious Disease Reference Laboratory.

Twenty-four persons are currently under investigation in the Philippines for possible nCoV infection. Most of them are Chinese nationals.

There are no confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in the Philippines as of Tuesday afternoon, according to the DOH. — RSJ, GMA News