Marikina COVID-19 lab yet to finish proficiency testing to get certification —DOH exec

Marikina City's own testing laboratory for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has yet to finish the proficiency testing stage before it can secure an accreditation, a Department of Health (DOH) official said Tuesday.

"Tinutulungan po natin ang Marikina laboratory para matapos na nila ang kanilang proseso for the certification and licensing," Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said in a virtual conference.

"Ang kanilang second PT (proficiency testing) panel po ay ibibigay na sa kanila. Actually noong Lunes pa po naka-prepare, inaantay lang natin na kunin na nila sa RITM para maumpisahan na po ang proseso ng kanilang paggagawa ng kanilang second PT panel," she added.

PT panel consists of a set of unknown samples from the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine.

According to the DOH, technologists of applicant laboratories will have to test these samples. The results will determine if the facility and staff can accurately conduct COVID-19 tests.

A week ago, Marikina Mayor Marcy Teodoro said he was expecting the accreditation of the local government's laboratory as it was already at this stage of running samples from the RITM as part of the regulatory procedures.

Vergeire said that "further training" is also being provided to the laboratory personnel to ensure their competency.

As of April 27, Marikina City has recorded a total of 103 COVID-19 cases, with 18 deaths and 18 recoveries.—AOL, GMA News