The Pasig City Molecular Laboratory has passed the final hurdle before receiving its license to conduct tests for coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
Mayor Vico Sotto announced Friday that the city’s molecular lab team has passed the proficiency test conducted by the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) that is needed before the lab can start full operation.
Sotto said the lab will soon receive its license to operate from the Department of Health (DOH), further increasing the city’s testing capacity and significantly speed up the releasing of test results.
“This is the best news I’ve received this week,” the mayor said on Facebook. “In the coming weeks, Pasigueños will feel the difference in the speed of testing and results.”
Pasig City is the latest among the local government units in Metro Manila to have its own molecular laboratory dedicated for COVID-19 testing.
Sotto expressed his gratitude to the DOH and the RITM, as well as congratulated the city’s molecular lab personnel for passing the test.
The laboratory is capable of conducting reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing, which is considered the “gold standard” for COVID-19 testing.
The facility is also equipped to conduct enhanced chemiluminescence immunoassay (ECLIA) testing, a type of antibody test that uses blood samples to determine if a patient has been exposed to the virus and if he has developed antibodies against it.
Sotto said the machines installed at the laboratory could also be used to detect other diseases such as dengue, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), among others.