The Philippine Red Cross (PRC) opened in Cotabato City its 14th molecular laboratory to help boost testing capacity for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) nationwide.
The testing laboratory, established at Barangay Balabaran, is equipped with two polymerase chain reaction (PCR) machines and one ribonucleic acid (RNA) extractor.
“It can process up to 2,000 tests daily.”
“It can process up to 2,000 tests daily,” said Marlon Palarion Jr., a registered medical technologist and PRC laboratory supervisor.
“The facility will serve Cotabato City and the neighboring provinces of Maguindanao, North Cotabato and South Cotabato, among others.”
Palarion said the facility, which began construction in May this year in partnership with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), will serve Cotabato City and the neighboring provinces of Maguindanao, North Cotabato and South Cotabato, among others.
“Its initial number of personnel includes 12 medical technologies, four encoders, four specimen collectors, and ancillary workers,” he explained.
In his virtual message, Senator Dick Gordon, concurrent PRC chairman and chief executive officer, thanked the ICRC for the partnership on efforts to control the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This molecular laboratory will further hasten our COVID-19 response there (in your area),” Gordon said as he underscored the importance of regular testing.
Others who attended the virtual launching of the new facility were PRC Secretary General Elizabeth Zavalla, PRC Cotabato chairperson Bai Fatima Sinsuat and Mayor Frances Cynthia Guiani-Sayadi.
The Cotabato Regional and Medical Center currently can only accommodate 200 reverse transcription (RT)-PCR tests daily.
In a statement, the PRC said it has recently lowered its RT-PCR testing fees for swab and saliva tests from P3,800 to P2,800, and from P2,000 to P1,500, respectively.
