Monday, March 30, 2020

DOH clarifies Statements made by Vergeire about the Covid-19 Test Kits donated by China

The Department of Health (DOH) has issued a clarification on their official Facebook page on the statements made by Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire during a Press Briefing last March 28, 2020:

* First is that they confirm that all of 102,000 Corona Virus Disease 2019 (Covid-19) Test Kits that China donated were the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) type.

* Second they said that low accuracy Test Kits mentioned by Vergeire actually referred to another brand of Test Kits that were being donated by a Private Donor.

* Third is that the DOH confirmed that the China donated PCR Kits were at par with Test Kits provided by the World Health Organization (WHO).

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Remember that the low accuracy Test Kits from China were the Antibody Kits, not the PCR Kits which are the same ones that Jack Ma is donating also (https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/03/29/20/covid-19-test-kits-donated-by-jack-ma-to-undergo-validation-first-expert).

I’m not really satisfied about the DOH’s explanation because for one, I can’t understand why a Doctor and a high official in the DOH like Vergeire could not distinguish between an Antibody and a PCR Test Kit.

Was she really that clueless, or just misinformed? The damage had already been done when she made that statement, and it is worsened by the fact that she herself was not the one who made the clarification.

The DOH has been under fire a lot these days due to their perceived poor handling of the ongoing Covid-19 outbreak, and that perception is not helped by events such as these.

SOURCES:
* Official Department of Health Philippines Facebook Page Post, March , 2020 - 1359H
COVID-19 Test Kits donated by Jack Ma to undergo validation first: Expert

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