Bio-molecular labs in Subic, Clark to open this week

Philippine Red Cross Chairman and CEO Senator Richard Gordon on Sunday said two bio-molecular laboratories in Subic and Clark will open within the week to boost the PRC’s testing capacity amid the rising cases of COVID-19 in the country.

In a statement, Gordon said the two laboratories passed the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine’s proficiency test on Friday and were accredited as certified COVID-19 testing centers.

The Subic laboratory, which is located at the PRC Logistics and Training Center inside the Subic Bay Freeport Zone and the Clark laboratory, which is located at Clark Freeport Zone, are capable of running up to 2,000 tests per day.

“This is a very welcome development. We can do a total of 4,000 tests per day in the two new facilities, which will enable us to run an overall total of 16,000 tests a day. And with the hotel capabilities of both Subic and Clark, repatriation flights for overseas Filipino workers can now be directed to the airports in the two cities,” Gordon said.

Aside from the facilities in Subic and Clark, he said the PRC will open up eight other testing centers in Batangas, Laguna, Mandaue City, Isabela, Cagayan de Oro, Zamboanga City, Bacolod City, and Surigao.

Gordon added three of the PRC’s COVID-19 testing centers in Metro Manila were equipped with four polymerase chain reaction machines each. They are also capable of running 4,000 tests per day.

The PRC will also add ten more PCRs in the Port Area molecular lab, which will enable the agency to conduct a total of 46,000 tests per day.

“According to the WHO (World Health Organization), we have to test 13 percent of the population so we can determine the disease’s positivity rate. For Metro Manila, alone, that would be 1.7-million and it would take ten months or 308 days to test 13 percent of its population at 46,000 tests a day. So we really have to ramp up testing to ensure victory over COVID,” Gordon said.

So far, the Philippines recorded 25,392 cases of COVID-19, including 1,074 deaths and 5,706 recoveries. — DVM, GMA News