Optimal Allocation of COVID-19 Test Kits Among Accredited Testing Centers in the Philippines

Christian Alvin H Buhat; Jessa Camille C Duero; Edd Francis O Felix; Jomar Fajardo Rabajante; Jonathan B Mamplata

We ran computations using R on the model to determine the optimal allocation of testing kits to be distributed amongst accredited DOH testing centers and additional testing centers found in highly-infected communities in the country. Based on our results, here is the optimal range of distribution per testing center: RITM (4.17%−6.34%), San Lazaro Note that if only 11 testing centers are to be used for testing COVID-19 patients, several testing centers will be overworked, especially if mass testing will push through. For instance, let us assume that 300,000 testing kits will be distributed. From the optimal distribution, UP-NIH will receive an average of almost 89,000 testing kits, across the different values we considered for the dispersal length. This implies that it needs more than 1,000 days to complete the testing for patients in UP-NIH which translates to more than two years to complete the testing. If we consider the proposed 30 testing centers, UP-NIH will receive almost 19,000 testing kits, and this translates to 245 days to complete the testing. This is a drastic decrease to the number of days needed to complete all testing from 11 testing centers to 30 testing centers. With these realizations, we observed that the greater the number of testing centers operating, the faster the completion of all testing of patients, and the more patients tested per day. We also recommend that these additional testing centers should be located in strategic places, that is, in the location with high density of infected individuals as shown in Figure 3 .