DOH admits COVID-19 mass testing not possible now

March 25, 2020

The Department of Health (DOH) admitted on Wednesday that mass testing for coronavirus disease among the Filipinos as of the moment is not possible.

In a press briefing, Health Undersecretary and spokesperson Maria Rosario Vergeire said despite the arrival of 100,000 test kits and the arrival soon of more items, the government could not conduct nationwide testing.

"We cannot conduct mass testing in the Philippines right now," she said, adding this could only be done when the country has sufficient test kits and enough laboratories.

While there could be more test kits, she said there could be a problem in capacity of the laboratories in the country.

Vergeire said the government is trying to put up laboratories also in the Visayas and Mindanao.

Currently, most of the COVID-19 test results are from the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine in Alabang, Muntinlupa City.

The DOH official also said most of the test kits in the country are donations.

"We cannot rely on donations," she said, noting that the government will procure testing kits which are compatible to the laboratories in the country.

As of Wednesday afternoon, there were 84 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number to 636, with 26 recoveries and 38 deaths. Celerina Monte/DMS