DOH: Results of COVID-19 test kits from local suppliers cannot be deemed ‘official’

CEBU CITY, Philippines — None of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) test kits from local suppliers are approved by the Philippine Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Dr. Jaime Bernadas, regional director of the Department of Health in Central Visayas (DOH-7), said this means that while the test kits can be used as a reference for testing patients for COVID-19, the results from these kits cannot be considered as “official.”

Bernadas said they are still waiting for the test kits that are purchased by the DOH Central Office in order to start with the local testing at the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC).

VSMMC has been identified by DOH as a regional testing center for COVID-19 last week. 

Read: VSMMC identified as COVID-19 testing center for Visayas

But it has yet to function as such pending the availability of the test kits.

Bernadas said they are expecting to receive at least 500 test kits from the Central Office.

Both the Cebu City and provincial governments have already committed to purchase test kits so the VSMMC can start with the local testing.

Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia earlier said the province has received proposals from local suppliers but they have yet to check the proponents’ documents to validate if the test kits that will be supplied are approved by the FDA of the Philippines and the country of origin.

Cebu City, meanwhile, had announced on Tuesday, March 17, 2020, that it has purchased 10,500 test kits from China.

Currently, Bernadas said the only official test results are coming from the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM). 

But because of the recent surge in suspected cases, the the release of the results is taking longer than the supposedly 72-hour waiting time. /bmjo