SunStar No expired test kits sent to labs, DOH says
HAWAII. In this photo taken in March 2020, a microbiologist tests a sample for Sars-CoV-2 in Hawaii’s Department of Health laboratory. (File)
+ December 29, 2020 THE Department of Health (DOH) has debunked the claims of Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong and stressed that no expired coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) test kits were sent by the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) to the city. The DOH and RITM clarifies (sic) that, based on delivery records and documents, no expired testing kits were released to any laboratory, the DOH said in a statement.
The agency said, however, that its Covid-19 Laboratory Network Project Management Unit (PMU) is developing a more efficient and focused logistics process to ensure that test kits are delivered before their expiry dates.
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(JANSEN ROMERO / FILE PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN)
The department made the statement after reports of alleged distribution of expired RT-PCR test kits by the RITM to Baguio City.
“The DoH emphasizes that unlike medicines which have a shelf life of three to five years, testing kits have a significantly shorter shelf life of six months from the date of manufacturing,” the department said.
The DoH underscored that test kits are fast-moving stock that have to be utilized immediately, considering that shipment and other laboratory processes already take up part of their already short shelf life.
It added that the machine compatibility, technical issues, low testing referral count, and availability of supplies also contribute to low consumption of the COVID-19 test kits, which, in turn, increase likelihood of expiry before use.