Madam Speaker, the question from the hon Gwarube is referring to the national targets of tests, 17 000 to 30 000 per day, and the response is as follows: To date, more than 596 000 tests have been conducted in South Africa during the first week of the response which was on 8 March, the average was around 35 000 tests done per week. During the past four weeks, the average number of tests done per day has increased to 15 756. While there is a need for increased testing, the current laboratory capacity is constrained by global demand for tests kits which has resulted in shortages in South Africa, especially in the extraction kits.
In addition, the lack of aircraft movements - that is aircrafts that are allowed to fly out of countries which are manufacturers of these kits means that the supply can be erratic. As more kits become more available in a consistent manner, the number of tests done per day will increase because we have capacity to be able to do as much as the targets that were set.
In addition, as soon as serological antibody detection tests are validated and approved by SA Health Products Regulatory Authority, Sahpra, these tests can then be used to assess prevalence of the virus, that is the number of people who are infected at some point and now they carry antibodies.
Currently, the SA Health Products Regulatory Authority has licensed an additional 20 polymerase chain reaction, PCR, test kits, that is in the past two weeks. It is the fastest ever number of approvals that they have done and that is because they wanted to make sure that we get as much access as possible. Those tests are now awaiting validation and therefore that is where the delay is in increasing them. With regard to the others that are already validated, the delays are caused by the global shortage which I have referred to above.
SA Health Products Regulatory Authority has also licensed another 6 tests, which are serological antibody tests; they are also waiting for validation. In total, Sahpra has examined almost 50 products at a really high rate - at a fast pace, in order to ensure that we have adequate supply of diagnostic kits. We have actually attached a table, hon Madam Speaker, which will be send to the members, just to indicate that we are not far from the target. These are 24-hour numbers - tests that were conducted in a single day. On 19 May we did 18 000 tests; on 20 May we did 18 726 tests; on 21 May we did 17 458; on the 22 May, 21 000 tests; on 23 May, 19 000 tests and on 26 May we did 21 000. Figures that will be released today will also show a much higher figure. This is also to indicate that we have done everything that was necessary to increase the numbers of tests based on the targets that we have set. Thank you very much hon Madam Speaker.