Philippines to conduct 1,000 COVID-19 tests per day – DOH

The Philippines is now able to conduct almost 1,000 tests for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) after several sub-national laboratories became operational.

In a press conference on Saturday, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said that the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine can conduct an average of 600 tests per day.

Meanwhile, three of the sub-laboratories can conduct a hundred tests each while the last laboratory can take 50 tests per day.

"Pag tinotal po natin lahat ng nagagawa natin for one day, average po is about 950 to 1,000 tests per day ang ginagawa sa ating ngayon," Vergeire said.

The health undersecretary also assured that the number of test kits presently available is enough at this time.

"Given that we already have this testing kits that have been donated to us, ito po'ng dami ng mga testing kits na ito ay maaring sufficient na para sa ating mga kababayan sa ating present time," she said.

In a separate interview, Vergeire said that it will take two weeks to analyze whether the enhanced community quarantine was effective in controlling the spread of the coronavirus.

Confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country have climbed to 307 with 19 recorded fatalities. — Joahna Lei Casilao/DVM, GMA News