UP Scientists developed testing kits rolls out on March 16.

Photo Courtesy: PhilStar

The Department of Health stated that the kit that University of the Philippines (UP) Scientists developed may be rolled out on Monday, March 16.

"The commitment is to start within a week after it was approved. Their target is to accepting testings on Monday and they have committed to 1,000 tests every week," DOH Undersecretary Eric Domingo, officer-in-charge of the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA), said.

FDA has already approved the kits by UP Scientists, however, it needs the "emergency use listing" with the World Health Organization. The price of the test kits reportedly cost P1,320, 6 times more cheaper than a foreign counterpart kits that priced at P 8,500. Using the test kits, it only takes two hours to know the result.

DOH Assistant Secretary Maria Rosario Vergerie said that the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine has the capacity to perform 300 tests per day.

“Kaya pa naman pong tugunan ang mga request for tests. Kapag dumating po tayo sa punto na tataas pa ang mga kaso, kaya nga po mino-mobilize ang ating partnership with UP-NIH and also the testing kits that have been locally-produced, para po ma-expand ang capacity ng ating laboratoryo,” Vergeire said.

(We can still respond to requests for testing. We can still attend to testing requests. When we reach the point where cases continue to increase, this is why we're mobilizing our partnership with the UP National Institute of Health. Also, the testing kits have been locally produced to expand our laboratory's capacity.)

As of Wednesday, the DOH has probed 763 possible infected patients. Out of 49 cases, the 45 currently admitted to hospitals, two died and two have been discharged.