The Department of Health (DOH) on Friday expressed confidence it can carry out 8,000 COVID-19 tests per day by end of April.
“We are very fervent in our commitment to make sure that (8,000 tests per day) will happen,” said Dr Beverly Ho, Special Assistant to Secretary Francisco T. Duque, in a press conference.
This, as the Department of Health reported 385 new cases (PH2634-PH3018) of COVID-19 bringing the total number of cases in the country at 3,018.
The DOH also reported one additional recovery and 29 new deaths. The total number of recoveries is already 52 while 136 persons were reported death.
Ho explained that the sudden spike in number of deaths is attributed to the late reporting of previous deaths.
Meanwhile, Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire clarified that only those persons under investigation and persons under monitoring of coronavirus infection with symptoms will undergo mass testing.
In a radio interview, Vergeire made the clarification after Secretary Carlito Galvez, Jr., National Task Force (NTF) COVID-19 chief implementer, announced that the government is eyeing to mass testing on April 14.
Ho echoed what Vergeire said adding that healthcare workers showing symptoms of COVID-19 will also be included in the mass testing.
Ho noted that there is now a larger network of testing laboratories that can conduct effective screening COVID-19 cases.
Besides the five subnational laboratories, the University of the Philippine National Institutes of Health (UP-NIH) had started operating last week and the Lung Center of the Philippines on Wednesday.
“We are confident that our laboratories can do a total 3,000 test a day by April 14,” Ho said adding from 1000 tests per day, the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) could increase it to 2000.
There are also new medical technologists that are being trained at the moment, she said.
“Our subnational laboratories can also do at least 500 tests a day,” she added.
She said that once the UP test kits will secure their marketing authorization and get its approval from FDA, it will also boost their testing capacity.