The Department of Health announced this Friday that an additional 30 public and private laboratories have declared interest to conduct coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) tests.
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DOH Spokesperson Maria Vergeire stated that the Health Department has already distributed its ‘self-assessment tool’ to interested institutions. This tool is meant to qualify whether or not these laboratories are able to run the tests meant to confirm if a patient has been infected with the virus.
Some of the institutions have already been visited by the DOH to validate their self-assessment. These laboratories are St. Luke’s Medical Center Quezon City and Taguig City branches, Makati Medical Center, The Medical City in Pasig, the Armed Forces Research Institute for Medical Sciences, Western Visayas Medical Center and the Bicol Public Health Laboratory.
Vergeire also mentioned that its subnational laboratories are similarly up for accreditation. They hope to certify the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center in Cebu City, Southern Philippines Medical Center in Davao City, Baguio General Hospital in Baguio City and the Lung Center of the Philippines in Quezon City as COVID-19 test centers.
The Research Institute for Tropical Medicine in Muntinlupa City is currently the only laboratory certified to conduct COVID-19 tests.
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