Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 14) — The testing capacity of government laboratories is halfway its capacity target, yet thousands of COVID-19 swab tests still await processing, the national task force deputy chief said on Thursday.
To resolve the problem, private laboratories are being tapped by the Inter-agency Task Force (IATF) to clear the 7,000 backlogs in swab tests.
This is according to Vince Dizon, deputy chief implementer on the national policy against COVID-19, after reporting that the testing capacity of the government is now at 14,500 per day as of May 10.
“Marami po tayong kailangan pang habulin, lalo na mayroon tayong backlog na 7,000 tests nationwide. Kailangan po natin i-address ang backlog na ito,” Dizon said during the Palace’s regular media briefing.
[Translation: We still have a lot of catching up to do, especially that we have 7,000 backlogs in tests nationwide. We need to address these backlogs.]
Dizon said many of the government laboratories are experiencing delays in processing COVID-19 tests due to technical problems, including machine issues.
“Nagkaroon po ng major solution at breakthrough,” he said. “Pumayag po ang mga private labs na tanggapin ang mga backlogs ng iba’t-ibang government labs at sila po ang mag te-test nito.”
[Translation: We had a major solution and breakthrough. Private laboratories agreed to process the backlogs of different government laboratories.]
The coronavirus testing czar added that many government labs still operate through manual processes, which contributes to the delay of the test results.
In response, private donors like San Miguel Corporation, donated automated machines to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM), said Dizon. This will increase RITM’s testing capacity via 80%, he added.
Dizon expressed confidence over the partnership forged by the government with the private sector to hasten the clearance of the backlogs within two weeks.
“Kampante po tayo sa ating mga private partners na sa loob ng dalawang linggo, mauubos natin ang backlog na ito, at tuluy-tuloy po ang pagtaas ng ating tests per day,” he said.
[Translation: We are confident with our private partners that within two weeks, we will be able to clear this backlog, and our testing capacity per day will continue to increase.]
There are now 30 licensed COVID-19 testing centers nationwide, according to Carlito Galvez Jr., chief implementer of the National Task Force on COVID-19.
There are now 11,876 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the country as of Thursday, the DOH reported, with 2,337 recoveries. The death toll has climbed to 790.
“Ngayong linggo, sampu agad ang ating na-accredit, mabilis na po ang ating accreditation,” he said.
[Translation: We accredited 10 centers this week. The process of accreditation is now fast.]
