MANILA - The Philippine government on Tuesday received test kits and a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) machine donated by Singapore that will help diagnose cases of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Singaporean Ambassador to the Philippines Gerard Ho turned over the donation to Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr.

Philippine Ambassador to Singapore Joseph del Mar Yap and Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) Director General Constance See earlier signed the deed of donation at the Philippine Embassy in Singapore.

Locsin had said Singapore was donating some 3,000 test kits amid increasing COVID-19 cases in the country.

China, meanwhile, donated 100,000 COVID-19 test kits, 100,000 surgical masks, 10,000 N95 masks and 10,000 sets of protective gear, which arrived in Manila on Saturday.

The Philippines has so far tallied 552 cases of the novel coronavirus, which originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan. Of the number, 35 have died while 20 have recovered, latest data from the Department of Health (DOH) showed.

• Tracking COVID-19 cases in the Philippines