The Department of Health (DOH) has announced that 10 laboratories around the country are now at the full implementation stage for COVID-19 testing. The laboratories undergo a process of accreditation in order to implement full scale testing.

The first stage of accreditation is accomplishing a self-assessment tool created by the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM). Next, they will be validated through an on-site visit by the DOH, RITM and World Health Organization (WHO). They will have to comply with the recommendations before proceeding to the next stage, with laboratory personnel going through three-day training at the RITM. At the fourth stage, the laboratory can accept COVID-19 samples and must need to test five positive samples. After tests are confirmed by the RITM, the laboratory is officially certified.

The following laboratories have accomplished all the stages of accreditation and are at full implementation.

Research Institute for Tropical Medicine, Muntinlupa (900 tests a day)
Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center, Cebu (240 tests a day)
Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center, Baguio (150 tests a day)
Southern Philippines Medical Center, Davao (100 tests a day)
Lung Center of the Philippines, Quezon City (100 tests a day)
San Lazaro Hospital, Manila (60 to 100 tests a day)
UP National Institutes of Health, Manila (80 tests a day)
Western Visayas Medical Center, Iloilo (80 tests a day)
Bicol Public Health Laboratory, Legazpi (unannounced test capacity)
St. Luke’s Medical Center, Quezon City (unannounced test capacity)

Through this, there can be approximately 1,700 tests conducted per day across the accredited laboratories. This is partial to the DOH’s target of conducting 3,000 tests a day per laboratory by Apr. 14, the proposed date to start mass testing for COVID-19.

69 other laboratories are also being assessed. “We currently have 10 laboratories that are in full implementation (Stage 5) of the COVID-19 testing, four are in Stage 4, one is in Stage 3, 20 are in Stage 2, and 44 are in Stage 1,” the DOH reported on their Facebook.

Header photo courtesy of Richard Balonglong from Inquirer.net

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