Coronavirus: Philippines apologises for saying Chinese test kits were inaccurate

Products donated by Beijing ‘on a par’ with those provided by the World Health Organisation, health department says

Philippines’ undersecretary for health had earlier claimed the kits were only 40 per cent accurate

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Manila has apologised for suggesting two batches of Covid-19 test kits provided by China were substandard. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 7:30am, 30 Mar 2020Updated: 7:30am, 30 Mar 2020

The Philippines’ health department on Sunday apologised for comments it made a day earlier that two batches of coronavirus test kits provided by China were substandard.

Undersecretary for health Maria Rosario Vergeire said on Saturday that some of the kits made by BGI Group and Sansure Biotech were only 40 per cent accurate in diagnosing Covid-19 and that some of them would have to be discarded as a result.

China’s embassy in Manila rejected those accusations, saying the kits complied with World Health Organisation standards and that they had played “a significant role” in enabling the Philippine government to deal with the Covid-19 epidemic.

“The quality of the 2,000 test kits from BGI Group, and 100,000 nucleic acid test kits from Sansure Biotech … is very good and there does not exist any accuracy problem,” it said.

The embassy described the health department’s comments as irresponsible and said they could lead to public misunderstanding and disturb cooperative efforts in fighting the disease.

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