MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) – A day after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the coronavirus test kits developed by scientists from University of the Philippines (UP), #SalamatUP trends on Twitter.
Price of a #COVID19 testing kit
— Tonyo Cruz (@tonyocruz) March 10, 2020
Imported: P8,500
UP-made: P1,320#SalamatUP
The FDA said on Tuesday, March 10, it issued a Certificate of Exemption for the SARS CoV-2 PCR Detection Kit of the UP National Institute of Health.
Priced at P1,320, the kit is said to be 6 times cheaper than its foreign counterpart, which costs around P8,500. The kit provides results in two hours.
The kit, funded by the Department of Science and Technology, will be used for field testing coupled with gene sequencing at the Philippine Genome Center, the FDA said in a statement.
Netizens took to Twitter to show their appreciation for UP for having developed the test kits.
#SalamatUP Please don't allow anyone to make this a business opportunity. These scientists need to be recognized and our government must take care of them. Imagine #COVID19 tests kits for Php 1,320.00, that's only around $26. Mabuhay! Science over sentiment. Facts over feelings. Keep doing the good work #SalamatUP for the #COVID19 test kit Deserves being a top university in the world!!! #SalamatUP The COVID-19 test kit can give results in 2 hrs & only costs Php 1,320
"Ultimately, the development of the nation and the protection of health and wellbeing of its people are the purpose of the University of the Philippines"
Serving with honor & excellence #SalamatUPhttps://t.co/SIxHD1w7BA
Health Undersecretary Eric Domingo, who heads the FDA, said the development of test kits was a response to the "increasing number of reported COVID-19 cases."
The health department had been under fire for underreporting cases in the country, which was attributed to the limited number of test kits – only 2,000 were available. Now, the UP National Institute of Health has committed to conducting 1,000 tests every week, said Domingo.
Online, Filipinos praised the state university for "rightfully criticizing" the administration while being able to contribute to the prevention of more coronavirus cases.
UP has been a target of hate speech and red-tagging by state forces and administration supporters for championing advocacies and exacting accountability from our government. (Read: Activism as the foundation of the university)
Imagine having the time and the intelligence to rightfully criticize the admin WHILE contributing something meaningful to society #SalamatUP . I'm glad that you're not like some groups that already have massive resources used mainly to produce easily debunkable propaganda. kung hindi lang sana nagmamagaling ang gobyerno natin, at kung marunong lang sana silang makinig sa mga taong bihasa sa science, edi sana matagal na tong naagapan.
oh, asan yung mga nagsasabi na puro rally lang mga taga-UP? #SalamatUP
Using the hashtag #SalamatUP, netizens also urged the government to put allocate more funds for education, research, and development.
Here are more tweets:
New Collection - Curated tweets by rapplerdotcom
As of March 11, there are 49 confirmed cases in the Philippines.
On Monday, March 9, President Rodrigo Duterte declared a state of public health emergency after officials confirmed the increase of cases. Under this status, patients suspected to have the virus could face sanctions if they refuse to undergo quarantine. – Rappler.com