MANILA, Philippines — The laboratory of the Chinese General Hospital in the city of Manila can now conduct testing for the new coronavirus that causes COVID-19.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire on Friday announced that the Department of Health (DOH) has approved the accreditation of the hospital to be a COVID-19 testing center.
With this additional testing center, the country now has 17 facilities to test people for the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus or SARS-CoV 2.
Below is the list of other DOH-accredited testing sites nationwide:
- Research Institute for Tropical Medicine in Muntinlupa City
- Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center in Baguio City
- San Lazaro Hospital in Manila City
- Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center in Cebu City
- Southern Philippines Medical Center in Davao City
- University of the Philippines National Institutes of Health in Manila City
- Lung Center of the Philippines in Quezon City
- Western Visayas Medical Center in Iloilo City
- Bicol Public Health Laboratory in Legazpi City
- St. Luke’s Medical Center in Quezon City
- Victoriano Luna Hospital in Quezon City
- The Medical City in Pasig City
- Makati Medical Center in Makati City
- Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory in Mandaluyong City
- St. Luke’s Medical Center in Taguig City
- Philippine Red Cross in Mandaluyong
The accreditation of test centers is part of DOH’s efforts to expand the country’s testing capacity in order to provide a clearer picture of the COVID-19 crisis situation in the Philippines.
DOH earlier said it eyes 8,000 to 10,000 tests per day by the end of April.
As of Friday, there are 5,878 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the country with 487 recoveries and 387 fatalities.