FDA warns public on unregistered COVID-19 test kits

In this photo taken Thursday, Feb. 20, 2020 testing kits are displayed on a worktop in Johannesburg where a workshop was held for delegates from across Africa on laboratory confirmation of COVID-19 in suspected human cases. Across Africa, steps are being taken to prepare for and to reduce the effects of the spread of the new coronavirus. (AP Photo/Denis Farrell)

MANILA, Philippines — The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Friday warned the public not to purchase unregistered test kits for the coronavirus disease 2019 or COVID-19 as these test kits could show inaccurate results.

“Sa ngayon, wala pang registered na testing kits so kung ano mang binabenta nila online, itong produkto ay unregistered. Hindi natin alam kung saan na manufacture o kung anong accuracy ng mga ito at kung nagte-test talaga ng COVID-19,” FDA Director General Dr. Eric Domingo told reporters in a phone interview.

(For now, there are no registered testing kits so whatever they are selling online, these products are unregistered. We do not know where these products are being manufactured or how accurate they are or if they are used for COVID-19.)

Domingo said they have issued the warning after receiving reports from Metro Manila and other provinces of test kits being sold online.

Domingo explained that they only approved of test kits developed by the University of the Philippines National Institutes of Health and those being used by the Research Institute of Tropical Medicine (RITM) in Muntinlupa which were donated by the World Health Organization (WHO).

The health official also explained that test kits for confirming coronavirus cases are manufactured in “sophisticated laboratories” and are not home test kits like those being used for checking blood sugar levels.

To date, the Philippines has 52 confirmed cases of the coronavirus disease. Of the confirmed cases, five cases, including those of four Filipino nationals, have ended in deaths.

Edited by MUF