More than 800,000 tested for COVID-19 so far –DOH

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said on Tuesday that they had tested around 800,000 people for COVID-19.

According to Vergeire, the Department of Health (DOH) licensed at least 75 laboratories that could conduct an average of 17,500 tests in a day.

“We have already 75 licensed laboratories. For which, we have this average of 17,500 tests being done per day. We have a (record) high of 19,500 tests done last week,” she said in an interview on ANC.

“We now have already tested about 800,000 plus individuals,” she added.

As of Monday, the total number of people who tested positive for COVID-19 was 46,333, with 12,185 recoveries and 1,303 fatalities, according to the DOH.

As of Sunday, the DOH reported a 7.4 percent positivity rate among 783,358 people tested.

Vergeire earlier said that the DOH was looking into several COVID-19 testing laboratories that had, for several days, failed to report updates on their test results.

However, the health undersecretary said that it was not unusual for laboratories to miss the deadline for submission of reports on COVID-19 cases.  — DVM, GMA News