By Analou De Vera Health Secretary Francisco Duque III on Thursday expressed confidence on the capability of the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) to test persons under investigation (PUI) for possible infection of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), noting that the test result may come out between 24 to 48 hours. Health Secretary Francisco Duque III
(AP Photo/Aaron Favila / MANILA BULLETIN) “This is a far more tedious testing procedure,” he said, comparing it to the diagnostic test (RDT) used by South Korea. Duque said that RDTs may provide “false sense of security.” “The last thing I want is to have a rapid diagnostic test, where it might produce false negatives. That is scary. I'll say you're negative, then I'll let you go out, then find out later that you're really positive,” he said. “I'm not going to just use an RDT that has not been vetted by a third party – a credible third party – who will say ‘yes, this particular rapid diagnostic test has passed stringent standards of quality, safety, specificity, and sensitivity’,” he added. In view of this, Duque said the Department of Health (DOH) is not yet considering the use of RDT kits for the detection of COVID-19 until it has been proven effective by the World Health Organization (WHO). Duque said the spoke with the ambassador of South Korea about the RDTs being used in the East Asian nation. “I've asked South Korea because South Korea is also an outlier because it is able to test 15,000 a day. I think some of you have read that South Korea has tested people by such magnitudes. And so I asked them, is your testing kit – not to assail, not to challenge but of course I'm also a physician and a man of science… I asked them, what is the basis of your rapid diagnostic tests? Has this been cleared by the WHO,” he said. Instead of using RDT, Duque said they are going to expand the country’s testing capacity by developing four more sub-national laboratories. “The WHO team of specialists on accreditation of laboratories is coming. They are going to help set these capacities,” he said. These include the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center in Cebu, Southern Philippines Medical Center in Davao, Baguio General Hospital in Baguio City, and the Lung Center of the Philippines in Quezon City.