Philippines has tested over 55k persons since COVID-19 Patient No. 1 -DOH

April 21 ------ Over 55,000 individuals in the Philippines have been tested for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) since the Philippines recorded its first case in January, the Department of Health (DOH) said Monday. The country’s first COVID-19 case, confirmed by the DOH on January 30, was a 38-year-old Chinese woman with a history of travel to the outbreak’s epicenter of Wuhan. She eventually recovered from the disease. Since then, 17 laboratories across the country have tested some 55,000 people. “Ang mga nagawa nating mga test mula pa no’ng nag-umpisa tayo ay a total of 55,465 na katao. Katao po ang binibilang natin,” Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said at a virtual press briefing. She added that the certified COVID-19 testing centers have conducted the following number of tests as of Monday: Research Institute of Tropical Medicine - 34,350 Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center - 3,107 Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center - 2,699 Southern Philippines Medical Center - 2402 Lung Center of the Philippines - 2,365 Western Visayas Medical Center - 1,903 St. Luke’s Medical Center Global City - 1,646 St. Luke’s Medical Center Quezon City - 1,612 Philippine Red Cross - 1,590 University of the Philippines National Institutes of Health - 1,264 San Lazaro Hospital - 1,118 Makati Medical Center - 568 The Medical City - 265 Detoxicare Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory - 179 Bicol Regional Diagnostic and Reference Laboratory - 174 Chinese General Hospital - 130 V. Luna Hospital - 101 Aside from the accredited facilities, 40 other institutions are currently undergoing the laboratory certification process of the DOH. The Philippines began the widespread testing of suspected COVID-19 cases last Tuesday, April 14. As of Monday afternoon, 6,459 COVID-19 cases with 428 deaths and 613 recoveries have been recorded nationwide. Source: gmanetwork.com