Pampanga seeks probe on conflicting COVID-19 test results

The Pampanga provincial government called for an investigation to determine why COVID-19 swab tests from private laboratories had contradictory results to swab tests from government labs.

In Mai Bermudez’s Saturday report on “24 Oras Weekend,” Governor Dennis Pineda said that those who tested positive in their RT-PCR test in private laboratories tested negative during their second, confirming swab test in government laboratories two to four days later.

“Ayoko naman i-blame ‘yung laboratories kasi we were not yet sure baka mamali naman itong certain laboratory, ‘di ba, itong government. Pero, I think, doon sa una nagkakaroon ng mali, eh,” said Pineda.

“‘Yung isang batch na ginawa namin, 15 positive people. Ang nag-negative sa second swab, 12. So tatlo lang ang positive. Doon sa second batch na 23, 15 ang negative. Three is positive. ‘Yung waiting pa kami doon sa ibang result,” Pineda said.

The local government had asked the Department of Health (DOH), the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine, and other laboratories to investigate the matter.

“Are they really calibrating iyong mga laboratories na monthly or once na iyon na iyon? Did they check regularly ‘yung procedure nung mga laboratories kung nasusunod ba, kung proper procedure,” Pineda aked.

Meanwhile, the DOH said it had yet to receive any report on the Pampanga testing.

“We are advising lahat po ng ating mga local governments, if you have this kind of observations regarding our laboratories, please submit the report to us so we can investigate,” Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said. — Joahna Lei Casilao/DVM, GMA News