Philippines
National
Philippine Red Cross warns public vs sale of self-administered saliva COVID-19 tests
Philippine Red Cross warns public vs sale of self-administered saliva COVID-19 tests
The Philippine Red Cross (PRC) cautioned the public Sunday, Feb. 14 against using self-administered coronavirus disease (COVID-19) test kits, saying that the government has yet to approve its use.
PRC Chairman Senator Richard Gordon laments that there are individuals who are trying to weaken the government’s efforts to fight COVID-19 by “selling" saliva-based COVID-19 test.
“Mayroong mga taong walang prinsipyo na nagbebenta ng saliva COVID test, nakalagay pa sa mall. Pinagbabawal 'yan ng Department of Health, walang pinapayagan ang tinatawag nating FDA (Food and Drug Administration). ito ay sinasabing self-administered test kits, pero walang permiso sa gobyerno yan (There are unrpincipled who are selling saliva COVID test, it is available in malls. It is prohibited by the Department of Health, it is prohibited by the FDA. These are so-called self administered test kits, but these are not approved by the government.),” he told the TeleRadyo in an interview.
“Ingat kayo baka walang bisa yan. Masasabi kong walang bisa yan dahil bago kami pinayagan ng gobyerno dumaan kami sa butas ng karayom, kinuha namin ang technology sa University of Illinois. (Beware, it is not effective. I can say that it is not effective because before we were allowed by the government, we went through the eye of a needle, we acquired the technology from the University of Illinois.)”
In the same interview, Dr. Paulyn Ubial, who heads PRC's Molecular Laboratory, said that those antigen tests that failed to secure registration and certification from FDA are likely fake.
“Hindi effective so hindi po sya magagamit para malaman natin kung may COVID o wala ang isang tao. (It is not effective so it cannot be used to determine if a person is COVID-positive or not.),” she explained.
Gordon reminded that it is only PRC that is allowed to conduct the saliva RT-PCR tests.
"Ang sinasabi ko lang mag-ingat po tayo hindi ho sagot ng gobyerno 'yan...Huwag kayong tataya dyan sa mga ganyang klaseng mga nanloloko, nanlololoko ho mga tao na yan (What I am saying is we should be careful, it is not authorized by the government. Don’t be fooled by these scammers, they are just fooling around),” Gordon said.
In late January, the PRC launched its saliva reverse transcription- polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test.
Gordon said so far, the PRC has tested a total of 9, 650 individuals and they are expected to step up and expand its saliva testing services this week.
“Ngayong linggo, magpipirmahan na kami ng Robinsons, sa lahat ng Robinsons , lalawak sa lahat ng mall para magsaliva test. (This week, we will ink an agreement with Robinsons, the saliva testing service will also be expanded to all Robinsons ,” he said.
On Tuesday, Feb. 2, the PRC formally partnered with SM Supermalls for the drive-thru saliva RT-PCR collection sites in an effort to make such testing services more accessible to the public.