AMID the surge in the number of people looking to get tested for coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the Department of Health yesterday assured the country has sufficient supply of test kits.
In an online press briefing, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said: “There is no shortage of testing kits or reagents for laboratories doing RT-PCR tests in the country. We have enough supply in testing kits in government. We continuously provide our laboratories with testing kits.”
Vergeire attributed the delays being experienced by COVID-19 testing centers to the high volume of people looking to get tested.
She said the high volume makes it inevitable to see clogging of accredited laboratories.
“There has been an increase in the demand for laboratory services in recent weeks,” she said. “The backlogs, delay in release of results, and difficulty in accessing testing were due to the sudden rise in the demand for laboratory services.”
Netizens have recently complained of difficulty in accessing COVID-19 testing services as well as delays in the processing of laboratory test results amid the rise in COVID cases in the country, especially in Metro Manila.
Vergeire also said the DOH is set to come out with a new price cap for COVID tests, an amended version of the one they had issued in the past for RT-PCR and antigen testing.
The DOH had set the price ceiling for RT-PCR testing at P2,800 for government labs and P3,360 for private labs. The DOH had also issued Department Circular No. 2021-0323 stating that rapid antigen testing cannot cost more than P960.
