MANILA, Philippines — South Korea has donated 700 units of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) test kits to the Philippines to boost testing for the disease.
Today, Sec. @teddyboylocsin, together w/ Health Secretary @secduque and NTF on COVID-19 Spokesperson Gen. Restituto Padilla, received on behalf of the Philippines, 700 COVID-19 test kits from the Gov’t of the Republic of Korea, represented by Ambassador Han Dong-man. 🇵🇭🤝🇰🇷 pic.twitter.com/rjE17A2i15
— DFA Philippines 🇵🇭 (@DFAPHL) April 25, 2020
South Korean Ambassador to the Philippines Han Dong-man handed over the test kits to Philippine government officials, represented by Department of Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro “Teddyboy” Locsin Jr., Department of Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, and National Task Force on COVID-19 spokesperson Gen. Restituto Padilla
The test kits, which arrived Friday night, are valued at $500,000 (or approximately P25.38 million). Such test kits can yield a total of 35,000 tests, the DFA said.
Image: Courtesy of the Department of Foreign Affairs
“The test kits are compatible with local COVID-19 testing systems and were immediately delivered to the DOH,” the foreign affairs department added.
So far, the Philippines has 7,192 confirmed COVID-19 cases as of Friday, of which 762 managed to recover while 477 have died due to the disease.
Meanwhile, South Korea has recorded 10,718 coronavirus cases, with 240 deaths.