MANILA, Philippines — Laboratories in the country can now collectively conduct 6,320 tests a day for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the Department of Health (DOH) said Tuesday.
There are currently 19 laboratories across that country that are accredited and licensed to conduct tests to detect the novel coronavirus or SARS-CoV-2.
“Ginagawa ng kagawaran ang lahat ng makakaya nito upang paigtingin pa natin ang ating testing capacity,” Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said in a virtual press briefing.
(The DOH is doing its best to further strengthen the country’s testing capacity.)
She added that DOH is procuring equipment and supplies for the sub-national laboratories and it is also hiring healthcare workers such as laboratory technicians to fill in the vacancies.
It is also expediting the certification and licensing process for laboratories who wish to conduct COVID-19 tests. So far, there are 47 laboratories in the country that are on track to getting licensed to be a COVID-19 testing site.
DOH earlier said it aims to conduct at least 8,000 tests per day by the end of April.
When this is achieved, this is also only when DOH can determine the trend of the pandemic in the country, whether its curve has flattened due to the enhanced community quarantine imposed over Luzon.