Philippines did not have COVID-19 testing capacity in January -DOH

The Philippines did not have the capacity to conduct tests for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) when the country recorded its first case in January, the Department of Health (DOH) said Thursday.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire made the statement in response to Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque’s comment that the Philippines should have expanded its testing capacity when the virus first broke out in the country. 

“Dahil bago po ang virus noong Enero ay wala po tayong kakayahang magsagawa ng test para dito at sa halip ay pinapadala po natin no’ng una ang mga specimens natin sa Australia para magpa-test,” she said in a briefing.

“Noon, wala pang standard na proseso sa licensing ng mga laboratoryo ayon sa mga biosafety requirements at kinakailangan pa rin po nating mag-procure ng mga equipment at supplies kagaya po ng RT-PCR machines [at] reagents sa kalagitnaan po ng global shortage,” she added.

Vergeire noted that the country now has 83 licensed laboratories as of July 9, compared to having only one testing center in February.

Despite the increase in accredited laboratories, the government still has yet to meet its May 30 goal of conducting at least 30,000 tests daily. 

The operational laboratories averaged 19,459 tests per day from July 1 to 7, according to Vergeire.

“Bukod po dito, noong July 7 po ay nakapag-record po tayo ng highest number of tests conducted in a single day kung saan nakapagsagawa po tayo ng 23,104 tests in a day,” she added.

The Philippines has recorded 51,754 COVID-19 cases with 12,813 recoveries and 1,314 deaths as of Thursday afternoon. -NB, GMA News