Rappler news website quoted the March 28 of the Deputy Health Minister of the Philippines Maria Rosario Vergeire said a lot of test kits originating in China only 40% accurate so they decided not to use the kit.
Vergeire did not specify the exact number of test kits.
According to Inquirer , China previously funded 100,000 test kits for the Philippines.
According to the official, to test whether the test kit is correct or not, the Philippines will use one set from the World Health Organization WHO as the standard. These two kits will be used at the same time on the same patient. If the results are the same, the test kit is confirmed to meet WHO standards.
In addition, Deputy Minister Vergeire said that the Philippines is using the Chinese company’s testing suite Sansure. "The Sansure kit gives the same results as the WHO kit so we allow them to be used."
China spoke up
The Chinese Embassy in Manila denied on March 29 that low-precision kits came from a batch of medical devices that Beijing provided aid to the Philippines against Covid-19.
In a statement, the Chinese diplomatic agency criticized the Philippine Ministry of Health for making "irresponsible notices" saying that some test kits produced inaccurate results from Beijing’s aid shipment. .
"The kit that the Philippine Ministry of Health officials mentioned on March 28 has not been tested by the Philippine Medical Research Institute (RITM) and is not an aid from the Chinese government. The Chinese Embassy strongly rejects irresponsible announcements and any efforts that affect cooperation between the two countries, "the notice wrote.
The Chinese Embassy affirmed that the aid kit provided by the country to the Philippines was of high quality.
“According to the announcement of the Ministry of Health of the Philippines, 2 test kits including 2,000 BGI PCR kits and 100,000 assorted PCR kits of Sansure sponsored by the Chinese government have been assessed by WHO as RITM. These kits are of high quality and standard and have no accuracy issues, ”the notice stressed.
Philippine Health Minister Francisco Duque III also said China-funded test kits were no problem.
So far, the Philippines has recorded 1,418 cases of Covid-19 and 71 deaths. In the past 24 hours, the country has 343 new infections, a record high since the outbreak.
