Bicol public health lab, St. Luke’s QC accredited for COVID-19 testing; total labs now at 10

MANILA — The Department of Health on Monday said there are now 10 laboratories nationwide that can process COVID-19 tests.

The two newly accredited laboratories are the Bicol Public Health Laboratory and the St. Luke’s Medical Center in Quezon City.

“We currently have 10 laboratories that are in full implementation of the COVID-19 testing,” the DOH said in a message to media.

The other 8 are:

1. Research Institute for Tropical Medicine in Muntinlupa City (can run 900 tests daily)
2. San Lazaro Hospital in Manila City (60-100 tests daily)
3. UP National Institutes of Health in Manila City (80 tests daily)
4. Lung Center of the Philippines in Quezon City (100 tests daily)
5. Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center in Benguet (150 tests daily)
6. Western Visayas Medical Center in Iloilo City (80 tests daily)
7. Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center in Cebu City (240 tests daily)
8. Southern Philippines Medical Center in Davao City (100 tests daily)

• Where can you get tested for COVID-19 in the Philippines?

There are four other laboratories in Stage 4 or proficiency testing stage. At this stage, the laboratory tests samples and the results need confirmation by the RITM before being fully accredited.

There is 1 laboratory at Stage 3 or personnel training. The training is conducted by the RITM and lasts for 3 days.

Twenty more laboratories are in Stage 2, and 22 are in Stage 1. Stage 2 validation involves an on-site visit from the DOH, the RITM and the World Health organization. The Laboratories are expected to comply with requirements if there are any deficiencies seen. Stage 1 is self-assessment where the laboratory is tasked to check its readiness in terms of design, equipment and other requirements.

DOH accredits 2 more COVID-19 laboratories: Bicol Public Health Laboratory and St. Luke’s Medical Center QC. There are now 10 accredited laboratories for COVID-19 testing. @ABSCBNNews pic.twitter.com/DkE1PmSQP4

— Kristine Sabillo (@kristinesabillo) April 6, 2020

The DOH is targeting 8,000 tests daily by the end of April. The country has struggled with the increasing number of COVID-19 cases and the inadequate number of test kits and of laboratories that are able to run tests at the onset of the pandemic.

• DOH targets 8,000 COVID-19 tests daily by end of April

The initial backlog in cases resulted in a number of patients dying before learning of their test results.

• More than half of COVID-19 fatalities got test results on day of or after death

As of Monday, there are 3,660 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country.