Iloilo City gov't receives 1,700 UP-developed COVID-19 test kits

ILOILO CITY - The city government of Iloilo City on Wednesday received additional COVID-19 test kits bought using donations.

With the P2.6 million donated by different companies in Iloilo City, the city government was able to purchase 1,700 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test kits developed by the University of the Philippines.

The test kits will be used for the ongoing mass testing in the city, prioritizing frontliners, said Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas.

The city also received 1,000 rapid test kits from Congressman Paolo Duterte.

Treñas is thankful to the different generous stakeholders during these trying times.

A few weeks ago, the city purchased 2,700 test kits from South Korea from the fund donated by Ilonggo businessmen.

Meanwhile, the training team from the National Institutes of Health from the University of the Philippines has arrived in the city to help with the training of two medical technologists from West Visayas State University Medical Center (WVSUMC) in Iloilo City.

Treñas has been pushing for WVSUMC to become a testing center for COVID-19. 

Part of the training team are staff of the Philippine Genome Center and the UP Alumni.

Currently, the WVMC is the only hospital in Iloilo City accredited to conduct COVID-19 tests.

As of Wednesday, there are five confirmed COVID-19 cases in Iloilo City, including one fatality.