Philippines has tested over 55k persons since COVID-19 Patient No. 1 -DOH

Over 55,000 individuals in the Philippines have been tested for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) since the Philippines recorded its first case in January, the Department of Health (DOH) said Monday.

The country’s first COVID-19 case, confirmed by the DOH on January 30, was a 38-year-old Chinese woman with a history of travel to the outbreak’s epicenter of Wuhan. She eventually recovered from the disease.

Since then, 17 laboratories across the country have tested some 55,000 people.

“Ang mga nagawa nating mga test mula pa no’ng nag-umpisa tayo [ay] a total of 55,465 na katao. Katao po ang binibilang natin,” Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said at a virtual press briefing.

She added that the certified COVID-19 testing centers have conducted the following number of tests as of Monday:

• Research Institute of Tropical Medicine - 34,350
• Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center - 3,107
• Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center - 2,699
• Southern Philippines Medical Center - 2402
• Lung Center of the Philippines - 2,365
• Western Visayas Medical Center - 1,903
• St. Luke’s Medical Center Global City - 1,646
• St. Luke’s Medical Center Quezon City - 1,612
• Philippine Red Cross - 1,590
• University of the Philippines National Institutes of Health - 1,264
• San Lazaro Hospital - 1,118
• Makati Medical Center - 568
• The Medical City - 265
• Detoxicare Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory - 179
• Bicol Regional Diagnostic and Reference Laboratory - 174
• Chinese General Hospital - 130
• V. Luna Hospital -  101

Aside from the accredited facilities, 40 other institutions are currently undergoing the laboratory certification process of the DOH.

The Philippines began the widespread testing of suspected COVID-19 cases last Tuesday, April 14.

As of Monday afternoon, 6,459 COVID-19 cases with 428 deaths and 613 recoveries ave been recorded nationwide. -NB, GMA News