Red Cross to open lab for COVID-19 testing in Cebu City

A bio-molecular laboratory for COVID-19 testing will soon open in Cebu City through the partnership of the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) and Security Bank Foundation, according to Senator Richard Gordon.

"The need for testing cannot be over-emphasized in order to unmask the virus and prevent or control its spread. We are grateful that Security Bank Foundation partnered with us in this endeavor which would save the lives of our countrymen in the Central Visayas," Gordon, chairperson of the PRC, said in a Friday statement.

The laboratory will be set up at the PRC headquarters along Osmena Boulevard, Cebu City through the P15-million donation of the foundation, he added.

Based on the Department of Health's (DOH) online tracker, over 1,700 out of the more than 11,000 cases of COVID-19 in the country were reported in the Central Visayas region, as of May 14.

Two centers equipped with laboratory machines for polymerase chain reaction-based COVID-19 testing were recently opened by the PRC in Metro Manila. These could run-up to a total of 8,000 tests per day, according to Gordon.

The organization's testing capacity was projected to increase to 20,000 daily once five other testing centers open in Manila, Subic, Clark, Batangas, and Los Banos in the coming weeks.

The PRC plans to establish at least 14 bio-molecular laboratories across the country.

More than 184,000 individuals have undergone the COVID-19 test nationwide, according to the DOH. — DVM, GMA News