SINABI ni Inter-Agency Task Force on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) spokesperson Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles na naglaan na ang gobyerno ng P57.2 millyon para sa mass production ng COVID-19 testing kits na inimbento ng University of the Philippines (UP)-National Institutes of Health (NIH) at Manila HealthTek Inc..
Idinagdag ni Nograles na natapos na ang field validation ng mga testing kits at sisimulan na ang pamamahagi sa Abril 4.
“While government works to fully equip our health workers it is at the same time ramping up efforts to secure and produce more testing kits so we can test more people and quickly identify and isolate those that have been infected,” sabi ni Nograles.
Idinagdag ni Nograles na ito’y bilang pagtalima sa probisyon ng Republic Act 11469 o Bayanihan to Heal as One Act, kung saan inatasan ni Duterte na pabilisin ang akreditasyon ng testing kits.
“In line with this, the Department of Science and Technology allocated 53.2 million pesos for the GenAmplifyTM CoronaVirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) rRT-PCR Detection Kit that is being locally developed by the UP-NIH and Manila HealthTek Inc,” dagdag ni Nograles.
“The field validation for these locally-produced COVID-19 testing kits is expected to be finished by today, and from April 4 to 25 we expect field implementation of the same in several facilities,” ayon pa Nograles.
Naunang inihayag ni Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Secretary Fortunato dela Peña ang inisyal na produksyon ng 26,000 test kits kung saan prayoridad ang Philippine General Hospital, Makati Medical Center, The Medical City, Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center, Southern Philippines Medical Center, at Baguio General Hospital.
Tinatayang 120,000 test kits ang gagawing mass produksyon ng Manila HealthTek Inc.
“Bukod sa pagsusupply ng PPEs, gumagawa din tayo ng paraan upang ma-maximize ang mga kagamitan ng ating mga frontliners. The Department of Science and Technology-Philippine Textile Research Institute, for example, is spearheading the production of 500,000 re-useable, washable, and re-wearable facial masks as protective face wear,” sabi pa ni Nograles.