Zubiri asks gov’t, UP to mass-produce FDA-approved COVID-19 test kits

Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri. FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri urged the government and the University of the Philippines (UP) to mass-produce the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) testing kits its local scientists developed and was recently approved for use by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

“I am very happy to hear that the FDA has given the go-ahead for the use of the COVID-19 test kits developed by our scientists over at UP,” Zubiri, a UP graduate himself, said in a statement on Tuesday.

“I urge the government and UP to immediately mass-produce this test kit, if the supplemental budget is necessary for this, I am more than willing to sponsor the measure. Since this is more affordable and more accessible, we will able to cater to more patients,” he added.

Zubiri then thanked UP scientists for “this speedy answer to our test kit problem.”

This after he noted the “severe lack of testing kits” in the country.

“We had only 2,000 testing kits, which is simply not enough to cater to our population, even just in Metro Manila,” he said.

“With UP’s test kits, we can now have a better diagnostic process for the virus, and hopefully, this will allow us to develop a better containment strategy as well, as we find out which areas have the most,” he added.

The Department of Health (DOH) reported Tuesday afternoon 11 more positive COVID-19 cases, bringing the number of cases in the country to 35.

President Rodrigo Duterte already declared a state of public health emergency in the Philippines amid the COVID-19 outbreak.

Edited by JPV