1M COVID-19 testing supplies arrive in Philippines —Dizon

Published June 25, 2020 02:42 PM By NICOLE-ANNE C. LAGRIMAS,GMA News

More than one million COVID-19 testing supplies purchased by the government have arrived in the country, an official said Thursday.

Testing czar Vince Dizon said an initial 1.05 million tests arrived at the Villamor Airbase from abroad on June 21.

"Dahilan po diyan ay talagang mararamp up na natin ang ating mga test na kina-conduct araw-araw. At dahil diyan po ay talagang pwede na nating i-test ang napakarami nating mga kababayan," Dizon said at a Palace briefing.

He said the increased capacity may enable the expansion of testing to non-medical frontliners and asymptomatic individuals, subject to the issuance of a revised testing protocol by the Department of Health.

In the same briefing, Dizon announced that the Philippines has exceeded its target testing capacity of 50,000 as of June 19. He said the positivity rate is around 5%.

The official also said the government has rolled out an automated system for returning overseas Filipino workers (OFW). Together with an increased laboratory capacity and a steady supply of tests, this will lead to a faster turnaround time, Dizon said.

He said the turnaround time is now 48 to 72 hours, down from more than two weeks in March.

Dizon said more than 600,000 COVID-19 tests have been conducted as of June 22. He said the government's goal is a million tests by July.—AOL, GMA News
 

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