MANILA – The country’s Covid-19 testing czar Vivencio Dizon said the Philippines will surpass the tests for the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) of South Korea by next month, as the government continues to boost its testing capacity.
In a briefing Thursday, Dizon said he is confident the government can conduct 2 million tests in August.
He said the Philippines now has the second-highest number of tests conducted in Asia with nearly 1.4 million tests made as of July 26.
The country is next to South Korea with total tests of 1.5 million.
“In the coming weeks, we will surpass South Korea in conducting (Covid-19) testing,” Dizon, National Task Force (NTF) on Covid-19 deputy chief implementer, said in Filipino.
Other Asian countries that conducted the most number of Covid-19 tests include Malaysia with over 932,000 tests, Japan with over 780,000 tests, and Indonesia with over 700,000 tests.
Dizon said the stronger testing capacity in the country is made possible as accredited testing laboratories nationwide reached 94 from only one testing center in March.
He added the government will further expand testing capacity which will also include front-liners who are doing non-medical jobs like police, drivers, salespersons, and cashiers, among others; workers in declared priority tourism zones; and workers in economic zones.
Dizon said local government units (LGUs) now have the authority to test their constituents in areas declared as hotspots for Covid-19.
He said this testing will be conducted for free through PhilHealth.