OVP buys 10,000 coronavirus test kits developed by UP scientist

Image: Jay Ganzon/Office of the Vice President

MANILA, Philippines — The office of Vice President Leni Robredo has purchased 10,000 units of coronavirus test kits that were developed by a scientist from the University of the Philippines.

The acquisition totaled P14 million.

On Friday, Robredo visited manufacturer Manila HealthTek, Inc. and met with microbiologist and infectious disease expert Dr. Raul Destura.

Image: Jay Ganzon/Office of the Vice President

Destura led the team from the University of the Philippines-National Institutes of Health and Philippine Genome Center in the development of the test kits for the new virus that causes the highly infectious respiratory ailment COVID-19.

Funds for the purchase of the 10,000 test kits, which include detection and extraction tools, were sourced from the budget of the Office of the Vice President (OVP).

Robredo said the test kits will be delivered to various Department of Health-certified laboratories such as San Lazaro Hospital, Lung Center of the Philippines, V. Luna Hospital, and Bicol Regional Diagnostic and Reference Laboratory.

Image: Jay Ganzon/Office of the Vice President

Previously, OVP bought P5.3 million-worth of extraction kits that were sent to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM).

Also on Friday, the state health agency reported that the Philippines has 7,192 individuals with coronavirus infection, including 762 deaths and 477 recoveries.

KGA