The government is now eyeing to double the capacity of the Philippine Genome Center (PGC) amid the increasing cases of new Covid-19 variants in the country.
The Department of Health (DOH) announced on Monday that the PCG is procuring additional extraction machines for genome sequencing.
“Our current capacity is 750 runs or samples per week, once we get the additional extraction machines, which are being purchased by the Philippine Genome Center, this could be doubled to 1,500,” Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said in an online press briefing.
She said this will allow PGC to process five percent of Covid patients in the country.
Currently, she said only one percent of Covid-19 patients undergo genome sequencing due to the limited capacity of the PGC.
Vergeire said the PGC, which is currently based in Dilliman, Quezon City is also in the process of extending its capacity in the Visayas and Mindanao through the University of thee Philippines Network.
The government is currently trying to boost its genome sequencing capacity following reports of the entry of more cases of the Delta variant of SARs-CoV-2.
The said variant, which was first detected in India, is being blamed for the surge in Covid-19 cases in several countries including India and Indonesia.