Target COVID-19 testing capacity of 8,000 daily not possible on April 30 —DOH

The Philippines' target of conducting at least 8,000 daily coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) tests by the end of the month is not possible yet, according to the Department of Health (DOH) on Wednesday.

"Mukhang hindi po tayo aabot doon sa 8,000 for April 30... Marami po ang mga nangyaring issue this past week like RITM isang linggong na-down," Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said in a virtual briefing.

She added that the average number of COVID-19 tests in the country per day is still below 5,000.

The RITM recently had to scale down its operations after at least 40 of its staff members tested positive for COVID-19. It resumed its full operations last weekend.

Despite missing the target capacity by April 30, the health official said the arrival of GeneXpert cartridges would also beef up the local testing capacity.

"Itong ating goal ay atin pong pilit na aabutin this coming week as all the resources had been pouring in from the private side and the government," she added.

The Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) and other subnational laboratories have already doubled their operating time to 16 hours per day, according to Vergeire.

Based on DOH's online tracker, as of April 27, there were 85,596 individuals who have undergone the COVID-19 test in the Philippines.

As of April 28, the country recorded a total of 7,958 confirmed cases of COVID-19, with 530 deaths and 975 recoveries.—AOL, GMA News