SBMA taps Red Cross lab for mass testing

Philippine Red Cross is set to open a bio-molecular laboratory at its logistics and training center located inside the Subic Bay Freeport Zone.
PHILPPINE RED CROSS PHOTO

SAN ANTONIO, Zambales, Philippines — The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) will start mass testing for coronavirus infections this month, with the completion of a molecular laboratory put up by the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) at the Subic Bay Freeport.

The laboratory at the free port’s Naval Magazine zone is awaiting a proficiency examination by the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine, which is a prerequisite for its accreditation, said Sen. Richard Gordon, PRC chair.

“Our aim is to ensure victory over the virus. We have to unmask the unseen enemy so we could isolate and treat those who are infected and prevent the further spread of the disease. That’s why we are setting up several laboratories across the country,” Gordon said in a statement.

SBMA Administrator Wilma Eisma said the SBMA would put up two swabbing booths at the free port’s main gate. “Once samples are collected, these will be validated and sent to the PRC logistics and training center for testing,” she said.Priority

Testing will be open to the public although suspected or probable cases of the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) will be given priority, she said.

“Front-line workers in the Subic Bay Freeport, SBMA employees, as well as free port residents will also be prioritized, but we will also reach out to local governments in the neighboring communities of Olongapo City, Zambales and Bataan so that their constituents can benefit from the program,” Eisma said.

Aside from the specimen collection booths, the molecular laboratory will house testing equipment that include an automated ribonucleic acid (RNA) extraction machine that can run 90 samples per hour and two polymerase chain reaction (PCR) machines that can complete 2,000 tests a day.

The PRC has opened two testing centers equipped with PCR machines that can run up to a combined total of 8,000 tests a day, as well as automated RNA extraction machines.

On May 16, the Department of Health accredited PRC’s third testing center at Port Area in Manila. The center has four PCR machines that can process 4,000 tests a day.

—JOANNA ROSE AGLIBOT