PRC had targeted to open COVID-19 testing using saliva samples to PRC labs outside Metro Manila on November 5.
Philippine Red Cross (PRC) Molecular Laboratory head Dr. Paulyn Ubial on Monday said that the PRC had targeted to open COVID-19 testing using saliva samples to all PRC labs outside Metro Manila on November 5.
In an interview on GMA Network’s Dobol B sa News TV, Ubial said that the Philippine Red Cross had targeted to open the COVID-19 test using saliva samples in all of their laboratories across the Philippines on November 5.
The PRC labs outside Metro Manila, according to Ubial, were located in Clark, Subic, Cagayan De Oro, Cebu, Batangas, Iloilo, Isabela, Zamboanga, Surigao, and Bacolod.
According to Ubial, the organization can run up to 22,000 tests per day. In its laboratories in Metro Manila, the PRC can run 8,000 per day when all the PRC laboratories start to operate.
Meanwhile, Ubial said that PRC laboratories in Mandaluyong near Pinatubo St. and in the Port Area in Manila were open to conduct COVID-19 tests using saliva samples.
READ ALSO: PRC Begins Offering COVID-19 Testing Using Saliva Samples
Earlier, the Department of Health said that it had been coordinating with the Philippine Red Cross for the use of the saliva tests in detecting COVID-19 since September 2020.
“Tumagal ‘yung proseso kasi ilang beses po kami kailangan mag-present sa DOH (kahit) na tanggap na po sa ibang bansa itong testing na ‘to,” Ubial said.
The said COVID-19 testing method, according to Ubial, was also used in the United States, Hong Kong, Japan, and Singapore.
According to the Philippine Red Cross, saliva testing was an easier, faster, and cheaper alternative to the COVID-19 swab test as it’s simpler and required less processing.
Earlier, PRC chairman Senator Richard Gordon clarified that the saliva test for the detection of coronavirus disease would still use the same RT-PCR technology that’s being used for the swab test.
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