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FDA approves of SolGent test kits
The SolGent test kits that the CNMI has been using to test for COVID-19 has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration under an Emergency Use Authorization.
The Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. received the first 20,000 test kits from SolGent in South Korea last April 16. SolGent’s test kits are the DiaPlexQ (polymerase chain reaction), a fast and inexpensive technique that amplifies small segments of DNA, so they can be used to detect viruses such as COVID-19 in a shorter time.
Gov. Ralph DLG Torres broke the news about the FDA approval during the governor’s media briefing yesterday. “That’s something that’s a great success for all of us, and if there’s any doubt or question regarding the test kits that we got from South Korea, I think this is a good time to also acknowledge what we received yesterday,” said Torres.
Esther Muña, CHCC chief executive officer, chimed in to say that since there are a lot of test kits available, CHCC will be strategizing on how they will be using the test kits.
“At the end of the day, there’s no question now in terms of reimbursable expense. The test kits were already approved by the Federal Emergency Management Agency” said Patrick Guerrero, the governor’s authorized representative.
This means that the expenses that are related to community-based testing (labor, equipment, and testing) will be covered by FEMA moving forward.
Torres earlier said that the goal since Day 1 was to test everybody in the CNMI
