Roque: ‘By hook or by crook’, gov’t to do 30K a day COVID-19 tests by end-May

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine government on Tuesday vowed to hit its goal of 30,000 COVID-19 tests a day by the end of May.

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said this after the Department of Health (DOH) announced that the country has finally reached on Sunday its goal of 8,000 daily coronavirus tests, albeit 10 days past its target date.

“We will get there by hook or by crook. It is the only way para makita kung nasan na ang ating kalaban (to determine where our enemy is),” Roque said in a televised Palace briefing.

To reach the new target, Roque said the Philippines needs at least 70 COVID-19 testing centers.

The government earlier said it is eyeing to have a total of 78 COVID-19 testing laboratories by the end of the month to reach its 30,000 test goal.

So far, the Philippines has 26 accredited laboratories capable of detecting the SARS CoV-2 – the virus that causes COVID-19.

Aside from the 26 testing centers that already passed the 5-stage accreditation process, DOH said there are three more laboratories on Stage 4 and 30 laboratories on Stage 3 of the accreditation process of the government.

Nationwide, there are 11,086 confirmed cases of the coronavirus disease, including 1,999 recoveries and 726 deaths, as of May 11.

KGA