MANILA, Philippines—China is racking up sales of medical gadgets with the latest being $2.5 million in lab equipment for coronavirus testing that the Philippines acquired from the country where the contagion started.
The purchase of the equipment with 45,000 test kits from the Beijing Genomics Institute (BGI) was funded by the Asian Development Bank, according to the Department of Health (DOH) on a Facebook post.
The equipment, which may be set up in seven to 10 days, can facilitate up to 3,000 tests per day.
A Philippine Air Force C-130 picked up the 10,000-lbs shipment from BGI in Shenzhen, China early Wednesday (April 22).
The Bases Conversion and Development Authority said the new equipment would be used by the Jose B. Lingad Memorial Hospital in San Fernando, Pampanga which would serve as a pandemic subnational reference laboratory.
Aside from the lab equipment, the Philippine government had earlier bought testing kits and personal protective equipment from China as part of Philippine government efforts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.