DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire
MANILA – There are no test kits for coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) available in the market for public use, an official of the Department of Health (DOH) said on Wednesday
"Ang testing ay ginagawa lahat sa Research Institute for Tropical Medicine [RITM]. Kung mayroon sa markets, hindi ho iyan rehistrado sa Food and Drug Administration [FDA] at huwag ninyo po sila tangkilikin (All tests are done at the RITM. If there are test kits in the market, they are not registered with the FDA so don't patronize them)," DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said during the Laging Handa press briefing.
Vergeire said clearances for various Covid-19 test kits, including the SARS CoV-2 PCR Detection Kit developed by local scientists at the University of the Philippines-National Institutes of Health, will be released in the coming weeks,
"We will just have to wait and we will keep you informed," she added.
While there is enough number of public and private hospitals that can accommodate Covid-19 cases, Vergeire said not all people infected by the disease will be hospitalized.
"May assessment po tayong ginagawa, it's like triaging, kung sino lang po ang dapat ma-ospital (We do an assessment, it’s like triaging, identifying who must be hospitalized)," she said.
Vergeire added that a number of private hospitals are willing to help the government fight Covid-19 in the country. (PNA)
