While capacity for COVID-19 laboratories reaches 34,000 a day, gov’t can’t maximize yet its use, says Palace

June 2, 2020

Malacañang admitted on Tuesday that the government could not maximize the use of various laboratories for coronavirus disease in the country even if they could accommodate up to 34,000 daily.

In a virtual press briefing, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque, quoting Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire, said  testing capacity daily has already hit 34,000, with 49 accredited laboratories.

He said the latest data already surpassed the initial 30,000 target testing capacity per day.

"But we cannot maximize (the capacity) because according to DOH, there's still a problem in the supplies and equipment," Roque said.

He said the daily actual tests vary.

Based on the DOH data, on May 31, there were 8,268 samples tested. From April 8 to May 31, the highest samples tested took place on May 14 with 11,254. Celerina Monte/DMS