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Singapore Donating 3,000 Coronavirus Test Kits to the Philippines

Singapore Donating 3,000 Coronavirus Test Kits to the Philippines
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Singapore will donate 3,000 coronavirus testing kits and a PCR machine (thermal cycler) to the Philippines to help combat the viral illness, Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. said Sunday.

The country’s top diplomat thanked the Singapore government as he made the announcement on Twitter.

“Singapore is donating 3,000 Covid test kits and one PCR machine. Thank you so much,” he said, adding that he was about to send a memo to the President, as quoted by Inquirer.

The Philippine government has sought to boost its supply of test kits, masks and protective equipment amid increasing cases of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which first emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019. 

According to ABS-CBN, China's donation of 100,000 COVID-19 test kits, 100,000 surgical masks, 10,000 N95 masks and 10,000 sets of personal protective equipment arrived in Manila early Saturday. 

In this file photo are medical staff at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases building at Tan Tock Seng Hospital in Singapore on January 31, 2020. Image: Roslan Rahman/AFP
In this file photo are medical staff at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases building at Tan Tock Seng Hospital in Singapore on January 31, 2020. Image: Roslan Rahman/AFP

On Saturday, March 21, the Department of Health (DOH) said that the country's accredited testing centers so far have an average testing capacity of up to 1,000 per day, with the bulk coming from the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM). For now, the tests will be limited to severe and vulnerable cases, the DOH said.

The World Health Organization earlier urged countries to test "every suspected case" of coronavirus, as this was the "backbone" of response to the pandemic. This was seen in South Korea, which has managed to control the spread of the disease through massive testing efforts.

The Philippine Food and Drug Administration has approved 4 coronavirus test kits for commercial use.

Philippines receives new testing kits, prioritises pneumonia patients. Image: South China Morning Post
Philippines receives new testing kits, prioritises pneumonia patients. Image: South China Morning Post

 

Meanwhile, the test kits developed by the University of the Philippines National Institutes of Health (UP-NIH) would take some 2 or 3 weeks to be validated.

As of Sunday, Health authorities said the Philippines has 380 cases, with 25 deaths from and 15 recoveries COVID-19

Indah Gilang Pusparani

Indah is a researcher at Badan Perencanaan Pembangunan Penelitian dan Pengembangan Daerah Kota Cirebon (Regional Development Planning and Research Agency of Cirebon Municipality). She covers More international relations, tourism, and startups in Southeast Asia region and beyond. Indah graduated from MSc Development Administration and Planning from University College London, United Kingdom in 2015. She finished bachelor degree from International Relations from University of Indonesia in 2014, with two exchange programs in Political Science at National University of Singapore and New Media in Journalism at Ball State University, USA. She was awarded Diplomacy Award at Harvard World Model United Nations and named as Indonesian Gifted Researcher by Australian National University. She is Researcher at Regional Planning Board in Cirebon, West Java. She previously worked as Editor in Bening Communication, the Commonwealth Parliament Association UK, and diplomacy consulting firm Best Delegate LLC in USA. Less
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