All regions in Philippines have COVID-19 labs except for BARMM, says Duque

Laboratories capable of processing COVID-19 tests are available in all regions of the Philippines except for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), according to Health Secretary Francisco Duque III on Tuesday.

"Ang tanong ninyo kung lahat ba ng regions ay mayroon nang testing capacity. Mayroon na po except for BARMM," Duque said in a Senate hearing.

"Mayroon po tayong 31 in Luzon, six in Visayas, five in Mindanao for 42 testing laboratories in total," he added, noting that 34 are using RT-PCR machines
while eight are using GeneXpert laboratory equipment.

According to the Department of Health's online tracker, there were 11 recorded cases of COVID-19 in BARMM as of May 1. Four have died while seven  recovered.

Duque said the accreditation of a laboratory in the said region is still ongoing.

"Mayroon po  tayong nasa stage 3 of the certification of accreditation—ang Cotabato Regional Medical Center. 'Yung stage 4 po, 'yun ang proficiency testing at tutulungan din natin sila na makapasa," he said.

"Ito po 'yung pinaka-acid test of the process. Kapag po ito ay naipasa nila, madali na nilang makuha ang kanilang certification. We're sending out technical people to assist them," he added.

Duque said he has yet to check the timeline when he was asked about the expected schedule for the laboratory to be fully operational. —KG, GMA News