DOH: More than 15,300 tests for COVID-19 conducted so far

MANILA, Philippines — The government-accredited laboratories have conducted a total of 15,337 COVID-19 tests, including retests and validations, as of March 30, data from the Department of Health (DOH) have shown.

Of the sum, 2,388 tested positive, 11,129 negative and 1,820 tested equivocal or results that are uncertain whether positive or negative and are set to undergo another testing. This breakdown already included the 300 repeat tests and confirmation.

The Research Institute for Tropical Medicine, Inc. (RITM), the country’s premier COVID-19 testing center, has conducted 14,001 tests to date. Meanwhile, the Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center has conducted 162 tests; San Lazaro Hospital, 65; Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center, 387; UP National Institute of Health, 147; Western Visayas Medical Center, 173; and the Southern Philippines Medical Center, 406.

All these seven laboratories can still accommodate 89,969 tests, according to DOH, but RITM would account for the majority of the remaining number of tests for processing at 42,000.

On Tuesday afternoon, DOH reported 538 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the country’s total to 2,084. Of the number, 88 patients have died while 49 were able to recover.

The documented daily new cases were a record-high spike since the outbreak of the disease in the country in February.

DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire has attributed the high daily posting of new cases to the increased processing of testing kits by RITM and the operation of other sub-national laboratories to also process results.

KGA