ILOILO – The Philippine Red Cross (PRC) will put up a molecular laboratory in Passi City to increase the province’s testing capacity for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
Sen. Richard Gordon, PRC chair and chief executive officer, said the organization, as requested by the Gov. Arthur Defensor Jr., will be constructing the laboratory at their PRC Regional Logistics and Disaster Management Training Center.
The facility, expected to process up to 2,000 samples in a day, will also serve the adjacent provinces of Antique, Aklan and Capiz, said Gordon.
“We shall immediately start working on the project so we can be operational in about three weeks,” he added.
“I am optimistic that our molecular laboratory will be used optimally and will be able to test more people and determine those with COVID-19 for appropriate treatment,” he said.
PRC continues to advocate for mass testing for COVID-19 so constituents will continue to be safe from the virus.
Currently, there are three test laboratories for COVID-19 in the city and province of Iloilo.
These are the laboratory at the Iloilo Metro Hospital and Medical Center in Barangay Tagbak, Jaro district, Western Visayas Medical Center and the Qualimed Hospital both in Mandurriao district.
In mid-August, the PRC opened a molecular laboratory in Bacolod City that can process up to 1,400 samples in a day.
The new facility, located at the corner of 10th and 11th Lacson streets, is the fifth COVID-19 molecular laboratory in the province, according to Jay Jalandoni, PRC-Negros Occidental Governor.
Jalandoni also boasted the facility’s safety and security features such as having its own dormitory which will house the laboratory’s medical technicians and minimizes the risk of contracting COVID-19.
He explained the rooms were also designed as negative pressure rooms which vacuums the contaminated air going through filters and ultra-violet lights which kills any contaminants in the air before its pumped outside.
As for security, the facility uses facial and thumbprint recognition, meaning outsiders cannot enter the premises unless they are in the main database.
Jalandoni said with the opening of the new facility, they may be able to accommodate the tests being carried out not just in Negros Occidental, but in neighboring Negros Oriental and even Iloilo./PN
