The Philippine Red Cross (PRC) on Saturday, Sept. 4, has reduced the prices of its reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests for both swab and saliva testing.
PRC Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Senator Richard Gordon said the new testing prices will save the government at least P5 million per day.
“Simula ngayong sabado September 4, ibababa na natin ang presyo ng ating RT-PCR tests para makatulong sa ating mga mamamayan (Starting this Saturday, September 4, we will lower the price of our RT-PCR tests to help the people),” Gordon said in a statement.
“Makakatipid ang gobyerno ng 5 milyong piso araw-araw (The government can save 5 million pesos every day),” he added.
The government, through the state health insurer Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth), shoulders the coronavirus testing fees for local government units, Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs), and healthcare workers.
The humanitarian organization earlier announced that the prices of its RT-PCR test for swab and saliva will be reduced.
It said that it will slash the prices by at least 25 percent for both swab and saliva tests—from P3,800 to P2,800 for a swab test and from P2,000 to P1,500 for a saliva test.
“Ang importante dito ay mas marami tayong mai-test, mas malalaman natin kung sinu ang may COVID, mas mabilis tayong makakakilos upang i-isolate at gamutin ang mga pasyente, at ultimately, mas marami tayong maisasalbang buhay (The important thing here is that we can test more, we can know more about who has COVID, we can quickly isolate and treat patients, and ultimately, we can save more lives),” Gordon said.
At an average of 8,000 tests per day, the PRC said it has already tested 4,074,794 swab and saliva samples since the start of the pandemic.
The organization currently has 13 operational molecular laboratories nationwide with another opening in Cotabato soon.