Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 29) — The Chinese Embassy in Manila claims the faulty test kits mentioned by Department of Health (DOH) were not from China, pointing out the said items were not tested by the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM).
In a statement Sunday, the Chinese Embassy said they coordinated with the DOH immediately after hearing reports that the test kits from China were only partially accurate.
“According to the clarification of the DOH, the two batches of 2,000 BGI PCR-type test kits and 100,000 Sansure PCR-type test kits donated by the Chinese government have been assessed by the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) to be at par with World Health Organization-provided kits, and those test kits are of high quality and standards and have no accuracy problems, which are being used in Philippine test laboratories and have helped accelerate the testing process,” the embassy’s statement said.
The embassy said further that the test kits mentioned by Health Undersecretary Ma. Rosario Vergeire during the press briefing on Saturday, were “neither tested by RITM which did not receive any kit sample for lab validation nor donated by the Chinese government.”
Vergeire said at that briefing, “Sa mga naunang pinadala sa amin na test kits from China, na nakapagpakita ng 40 percent accuracy, hindi po namin ito ginamit dahil nakita nga po na mababa po ang accuracy natin dito. Kaya ito na lang po ay ating itinago.”
[Translation: The test kits earlier sent to us by China and showed only 40 percent accuracy, we will not be using these because of the low accuracy. We have put these in storage instead.]
The Chinese Embassy said in its Sunday statement that China has continuously provided support for the government’s fight against COVID-19.
“At this moment of crisis, we should fight in solidarity to overcome the epidemic at the earliest date. The Chinese Embassy firmly rejects any irresponsible remarks and any attempts to undermine our cooperation in this regard,” the statement said.
Gordon: We will return faulty equipment
Senator Richard “Dick” Gordon, who is also Philippine Red Cross chairman, said on Sunday that should any COVID-19 testing equipment from China prove to be inaccurate, China would have to replace these or return the money it got as payment for the purchase.
Speaking to CNN Phiippines, Gordon said, “We’re working with the government. We have to work with the authorized entity and that is the government and if they say the tests are not accurate or are very poor, then we are in touch with the Chinese authorities. They will have to replace it or return our money.”
Gordon said he used money from donations to the Philippine Red Cross to purchase machines to be used in the fight against COVID-19, and that he was assisted by the Chinese Red Cross and the Chinese Embassy in identifying where to buy the machines.
He added that on Saturday he was with WHO, DOH, and RITM representatives who inspected the facilities of the Philippine Red Cross where these machines would be housed.
“They made adjustments so that when the machines arrive, we can do a final inspection. And they never said anything about the accuracy,” Gordon said.
He said the machines from China are automated and are also PCR, a technology for analyzing blood samples from patients, with extraction component that is automated. The machines supposedly work faster than other products in the market.
“Now should there be any inaccuracy, I’m sure the Chinese would have to… as they did to Spain, they replaced the machines. But our machines are coming from the ones that supplied Wuhan that helped Wuhan rehabilitate and I’m hoping that they will be alright. Otherwise, DOH will not allow us to do that anyway.,” Gordon said.
