Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 14) — A solon is pushing for a comprehensive review of the accuracy of all the brands of coronavirus tests used by the Department of Health and licensed laboratories nationwide.
“We’ve gathered that there are some brands of COVID-19 tests that return up to 20 percent false-negative results, which is unacceptable,” said Anakalusugan Party-list Representative Michael Defensor on Sunday.
The lawmakar added that the DOH and authorized laboratories might be wasting precious time and resources in redoing thousands of tests, due to the large volume of inaccurate results. This may lead to patients being falsely reassured they aren’t infected with the coronavirus, and these individuals “can contribute to the spread of the disease without them knowing it,” said Defensor.
Last month, medical societies in the Philippines have cautioned against the usage of rapid antibody test kits, particularly for employers who want to test their workers. These might yield inaccurate results, especially for asymptomatic individuals, they said.
READ: Medical societies: Do not use antibody tests on returning workers
This echoed earlier warnings of the Department of Health and Food and Drug Administration saying antibody test kits could still yield false positive or negative results, with RT-PCR (reverse transcription – polymerase chain reaction detection) test kits remaining the “gold standard” in COVID-19 testing as these can detect the actual virus causing the disease.
As of Thursday, the DFA has already approved 155 coronavirus test kits for commercial use. Of the total, 60 are rapid antibody test kits, 56 are RT-PCR-based, 36 are immunoassay, and three of other kinds. Only one of these test kits originated from the Philippines, which is the GenAmplify COVID-19 rRT-PCR Detection Kit.
“We are counting on the DOH to track closely the accuracy of all brands of COVID-19 tests – regardless of their country of origin – so that we may be properly guided as to which of them offer the best value for money for long-term use in the country,” he said.
The DOH received over ₱95 million in cash allocations for the purchase of RT-PCR kits, revealed President Rodrigo Duterte in his latest report to Congress.
Defensor likewise called on the DOH to release the number of COVID-19 tests that had to be conducted again due to inaccurate results, along with the cumulative number of tests that have been performed since March.
