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Philippine Red Cross' 3rd COVID-19 laboratory underway —Gordon


The Philippine Red Cross (PRC) is set to open a COVID-19 laboratory in Manila in addition to two facilities that are already taking in patients for testing, its chairman and CEO, Senator Richard Gordon, said Sunday.

In a Dobol B sa News TV interview, Gordon said the PRC's third COVID-19 laboratory, located in its compound in Port Area, Manila, is only awaiting approval from the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine to start conducting tests.

"Sa loob ng isang buwan, nakatatlong laboratoryo na kami. Isa na lang ang aaprubahan dahil tinatapos ang construction," he said.

"By Tuesday siguro we will have three laboratories," he added.

Gordon said the two laboratories are located in Mandaluyong City. Each laboratory has four PCR (polymerase chain reaction) machines capable of conducting at least 1,000 tests each.

With three laboratories, the senator said the PRC can conduct around 12,000 tests per day.

According to Gordon, the test kits being used in PRC laboratories came from China, and this is why each patient has to pay P3,500 for the test.

However, he said patients may reimburse with the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. the payment for the COVID-19 testing in their laboratories.

Gordon said PRC laboratories accept walk-in patients who want to get tested for COVID-19. They only need to call their hotline 1158.

"Puwede rin walk-in pero tatawag kayo 1158 para sigurado, para hindi kayo maharang ng mga checkpoint. Papadalhan kayo ng text message na sinasabi, puwede niyo ipakita sa checkpoint na kayo ay papunta sa laboratory namin," he said.

As of Saturday, there are a total of 7,294 cases of COVID-19 reported in the Philippines, with 494 deaths and 792 recoveries. —Erwin Colcol/KG, GMA News

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