The Philippine Red Cross (PRC) Cotabato City-Maguindanao molecular laboratory passed the efficiency test set by the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine last October 01, 2021.
PRC, Cotabato City – Maguindanao is the 14th molecular laboratory in the country, capable of processing 2,000 tests per day. The new molecular laboratory is in partnership with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and will serve Maguindanao, North Cotabato, South Cotabato, and Davao City.
“Naghihintay na lamang tayo ng license to operate mula sa Department of Health upang masimula na ang pag-tetest natin sa mga kababayan natin. Sa ngayon ay 200 test per day lamang ang capacity ng Cotabato Regional and Medical Center at sa pamamagitan ng bagong Molecular Laboratory this will further hasten our COVID-19 response and can test up to 2,000 tests per day,” PRC Chairman and CEO Sen. Dick Gordon said.
PRC tested a total of 4,682,077 as of October 20, 2021. Of over 281 molecular laboratories in the country, PRC has the biggest output of any organization representing 22% of the national testing output.
PRC Molecular Laboratories has an average of 360,000 tests to date compared with only 66,000 for government labs and 40,000 only for private labs because Red Cross molecular laboratories are fully automated, its output is five times more than the regular manual laboratories.
PRC also is ramping up vaccination efforts nationwide to get more people vaccinated as soon as possible through the Bakuna centers and PRC bakuna busses, having inoculated over 331,609 individuals.