Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 4) – Testing czar Vince Dizon on Sunday said experts do not endorse the use of self-swabbing COVID-19 test kits, saying they may only give a false sense of security.
Dizon told CNN Philippines that these self-administered kits are not yet validated by the Food and Drug Administration.
“Hindi ina-advise ng ating mga eksperto itong mga self-swabbing kits. Dahil unang-una, hindi tayo siguardo sa accuracy ng mga tests na ito, hindi pa ito nava-validate ng ating Food and Drug Administration at regulatory bodies gaya ng RITM (Research Institute for Tropical Medicine),” he said.
[Translation: The experts do not advise the use of self-swabbing kits. Because first of all, we are not sure about the accuracy of their tests, these are not yet validated by the Food and Drug Administration and regulatory bodies like the RITM.]
The Philippine Hospitals Association suggested earlier that the Department of Health could train people to collect their own specimens for COVID-19 testing. The group said this could help decongest laboratories and hospitals.
But the national government is not advising the use of self-swab test kits, despite countries like the United States and South Korea having already approved at-home testing.
“Kaya po ang gagamitin lang po natin ay yung mga na-validate ng WHO (World Health Organization) at ng ating mga regulators. Hindi po natin ina-advise ito, dahil baka makapagbigay ito ng false sense of security,” said Dizon.
[Translation: We should only use those that were validated by the WHO and our regulators. We are not advising it, because this could only give a false sense of security.]
To ramp up testing, Dizon said the national government will conduct 20,000 to 25,000 more COVID-19 tests daily in Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal starting this week.
