Red Cross unveils second COVID lab in Visayas

By Glazyl Y. Masculino

 

BACOLOD City – The Philippine Red Cross (PRC)-Negros Occidental-Bacolod Chapter inaugurated on Tuesday its second molecular laboratory for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID)-19 testing in the Visayas.

PRC Governor Jay Jalandoni said the laboratory, which he described as one of the top “state-of-the-art” facilities in Western Visayas, costs about P10 to P15 million, including the medical equipment from the national headquarters, which the local chapter will be paying.

The building was previously utilized as a caregiver facility of PRC at their adjacent office here, he added.

Jalandoni said the laboratory has two machines which can cater to 90 Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) tests per three hours and can accommodate 1,400 swab samples to be processed in a day.

Jalandoni said the laboratory will officially conduct tests today, August 19, but they do not cater walk-ins as part of their safety protocol.

Individual testing costs P4,000 and group testing for government costs P3,500 and P4,000 for private.

He said that processed swab samples will be sent to the Department of Health (DOH) and PRC national headquarters.

The facility is manned by 18 medical technicians, who will be staying at their dormitories located on the second floor of the building for three to six months.

“It lessens the exposure of our medical technologists to outside people. We do not want them to get infected and at the same time we don’t want them to infect others. It’s easy to put up a structure but the utmost safety of our staff was the concern,” Jalandoni said.

He also shared that each room has an intercom and only authorized personnel are allowed inside since the laboratory is equipped with biosafety features.

“We have a database wherein our authorized personnel will have to undergo facial recognition and thumb print scanning before entering the rooms. This is for the safety of everybody,” he said.

It also has a negative pressure room which filters germs and bacteria before releasing it to the outside air.

It undergoes this process so there’s no harm to people and the environment, he said.

He thanked the donors -private and public- for their support in the realization of the project.

He said the PRC is doing about 40 percent of the swab testing nationwide, adding that PRC also built a COVID laboratory in Cebu which was the first in the Visayas.

With this laboratory, he said they can also help to process swab samples from Negros Oriental and even in Iloilo for fast releasing of results.

Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson, who also graced the launching, lauded the efforts of the PRC and the donors for the project.

Lacson said the facility is the fifth molecular laboratory in the province which is very timely, considering the increase in number of COVID cases here.

“I hope we will be able to do more tests,” he added.

The provincial government also provided support to PRC in the project.

For inquiries and appointments, you may reach PRC through these hotlines: 1158, local number (034) 434 8541, (034) 4349286, (034)0917, 09273850219 or 09189156191.