DOH to address backlogs in Covid-19 testing labs

Earlier, Vergeire said the DOH has instructed the laboratories to reduce the backlogs in two to three days as ordered by the Office of the President. (PIA file photo)

MANILA – The Department of Health (DOH) is set to resolve the testing backlog in all the DOH-accredited testing laboratories for the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) across the country.

“We can confirm that 33 out of the 43 laboratories have zero backlogs and we are eagerly awaiting updates from our other laboratories,” DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said in a Covid-19 virtual presser on Thursday.

To date, there are 34 licensed RT-PCR laboratories and nine licensed GeneXpert laboratories nationwide. The DOH is anticipating 125 more laboratories which are in stages 3 and 4 of the licensing process.

Earlier, Vergeire said the DOH has instructed the laboratories to reduce the backlogs in two to three days as ordered by the Office of the President.

“Patuloy po ang pagbibigay natin ng technical assistance upang matugunan ng ating laboratories ang kanilang (We continue to provide technical assistance so that the laboratories can reach their) full capacities,” she added.

These laboratories are the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine, San Lazaro Hospital, UP National Institutes of Health, Lung Center of the Philippines, St. Luke’s Medical Center-Quezon City, The Medical City-Ortigas, V. Luna-AFRIMS, Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory in Mandaluyong, St. Luke’s Medical Center-BGC, Makati Medical Center, Philippine Red Cross, Chinese General Hospital, PRC-PLMC, Philippine Genome Center-UP Diliman and Marikina Molecular Diagnostic Laboratory.

The other laboratories are UP-PGH Molecular Laboratory, Singapore Diagnostic, Inc., Asian Hospital and Medical Center, PNP Crime Laboratory, National Kidney and Transplant Institute, Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center, Ilocos Training Regional Medical Center, Jose B. Lingad Memorial Hospital and De La Salle University-Cavite.

Also accredited are Bicol Regional Diagnostic and Reference Laboratory, Western Visayas Medical Center, Allegiant Regional Care Hospital, Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center, Cebu TB Reference Laboratory, Eastern Visayas Regional Medical Center, Zamboanga City Medical Center-DA Satellite Laboratory, Southern Philippines Medical Center, Divine Word Hospital and Tondo Medical Center.