FDA seeks DOH opinion on COVID-19 home tests

The Philippines' drug regulator said on Wednesday it was seeking the Department of Health's opinion on COVID-19 home tests in use in at least two other countries. 

Food and Drug Administration chief Eric Domingo said he wrote to the DOH asking, "Ano ang kanilang opinyon dito? At kung gagamitin ba nila, at kung kakailanganin ba dito sa Pilipinas ang mga self-administered test kit?"

(What is their opinion on this? Will they use it and will self-administered test kits be needed here in the Philippines?)

"Kasi ngayon, sa mga testing strategy natin, lahat ay mga ginagawa po ito ng mga RT-PCR or antigen test ‘no. Ito iyong ginagamit ng DOH ngayon," Domingo noted in a televised public briefing. 

"So depende po iyan, hinihintay lang po namin ang kasagutan ng Department of Health, if they think it will be useful to our strategies," he continued. 

(Currently, our testing strategies are all done through RT-PCR or antigen tests. Those are what the DOH uses. So that will depend. We are just waiting for the answer of the Department of Health.)

• Positive COVID-19 antigen tests now part of case count 

Singapore earlier distributed antigen rapid test kits to households and urged everyone to self-test even though they are already fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

Meanwhile, Australian diagnostic test maker Ellume last week said it recalled certain lots of a COVID-19 home test it shipped to the US, as they may show false positive results due to a manufacturing issue.
 
In the Philippines, the DOH in late September said it was looking into a drop in COVID-19 testing. 

• COVID-19 testing output drop in 14 regions flagged 

Among the hardest hit by the pandemic in Asia, the Philippines has tallied some 2.6 million overall coronavirus infections and at least 38,828 deaths. 

— With a report from Reuters