Palace urges Red Cross to resume COVID-19 testing

Malacañang on Friday called on the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) to resume COVID-19 testing services for the government and said it could be paid partially while its memorandum of agreement with the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) is under review.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque also appealed for patience from returning overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who had been stranded in quarantine while waiting for their delayed test results. Roque said that President Duterte himself had committed that the government would pay its obligation.

He also said the Department of Justice had advised PhilHealth to partially pay PRC while their agreement on COVID-19 testing was being reviewed.

All arriving OFWs have to undergo RT-PCR tests and must test negative to be allowed to go home.

PRC stopped testing after PhilHealth failed to pay its nearly P1-billion debt. —Leila B. Salaverria

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