Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 23) — Department of Health Spokesperson Maria Rosario Vergeire said an expert panel is currently studying the possibility of using pool testing in the country to increase its testing capacity.
Vergeire said the COVID-19 Laboratory Expert Panel is currently looking into the matter to be able to maximize the capacity of laboratories.
The Health department’s Single Joint Research Ethics Board is also doing a review before a pilot study is conducted in the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine to determine the appropriate number of specimens to pool for testing, she said.
The spokesperson added that the department is also determining other laboratories which have the ability to conduct such testing method considering their capacity, human resource, and number of specimens to be tested daily.
Pool testing involves the use of an algorithm and grouping specimens together for testing.
Iloilo Rep. and former Health secretary Janette Garin is also pushing for the use of pool testing since this is more co-efficient and is seen to improve the country’s testing and isolation procedures.
READ: Proposed pool testing’ for COVID-19 pushed in Congress
The DOH said the country has an estimated testing capacity of more than 30,000 daily for 42 laboratories, but actual testing is at 8,500 to 9,500.
As of June 22, the country has 65 licensed laboratories, 48 of which use RT-PCR, while 17 use GeneXpert.
Total cases of COVID-19 have reached 31,825, with the addition of record high single-day increase of 1,150 new infections. Total recoveries rose to 8,442, while death toll is at 1,186.
