PH testing capacity improves with 85 COVID-19 test labs

The Philippines now has 85 certified laboratories capable of testing specimens from Covid-19 patients.
The Department of Health said there are 63 licensed reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) laboratories and 22 licensed GeneXpert laboratories, improving the country’s testing capacity.
The total number of laboratory applications nationwide is 186, around 89 percent of these are in Stage 3 and up.
DOH Usec. Maria Rosario Vergeire said submission of daily accomplishment reports on time is a challenge for some of the laboratories, citing that many of them provide reports beyond the 6 p.m. cutoff.
“One of the challenges of the laboratories is encoding because in some laboratories, encoding is done by the personnel conducting the test. At a certain time, they stop processing tests, then they begin encoding,” Vergeire said.
The DOH introduced the Covid Data Repository System (CDRS) to help the laboratories with encoding struggles.
In this system, laboratories are expected to upload their Excel files containing their daily case updates to the CDRS which is connected to the Covid KAYA.
Covid KAYA is DOH’s case and contact tracing reporting system for epidemiology and surveillance purposes.
In the Cordillera, the licensed RT-PCR laboratories are Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center and Parkway Medical and Diagnostic Center at Bakakeng, Baguio City.
Other licensed RT-PCR laboratories are spread out in other regions in the country.
Among the licensed cartridge-based PCR or GeneXpert laboratories are Amai Pakpak Medical Center, Dr. Jose B. Rodriguez Memorial Hospital and Sanitarium, Lung Center of the Philippines, National Kidney and Transplant Institute, Philippine Heart Center, Sta. Ana Hospital-Closed System Molecular Laboratory, Tondo Medical Center, Mariano Marcos Memorial Hospital, Region 1 Medical Center, Cagayan Valley CHD TB Reference Laboratory, Bataan General Hospital, Bulacan Medical Center, Batangas Medical Center, Oriental Mindoro Provincial Hospital, Ospital ng Palawan, Bicol Medical Center, Zamboanga City Medical Center, Northern Mindanao Medical Center, Davao Regional Medical Center, Cotabato Regional Medical Center, and St. Elizabeth Hospital.  – PNA release