PH Red Cross completes study on Covid-19 saliva test — DOH

FILE – A health worker performs a swab test to a client at the Philippine Red Cross in Mandaluyong City on Thursday, September 24, 2020. INQUIRER PHOTO / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Red Cross (PRC) has already completed its study for Covid-19 saliva tests, the Department of Health (DOH) said Monday.

In an online press briefing, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the PRC was supposed to present the findings of its study on Monday, but asked to have it rescheduled for a later date.

“They said that Wednesday na sila magpepresent sa ating lab experts (they will present it before lab experts on Wednesday), but they were already done with the study,” Vergeire said.

“They are just finalizing the analysis so pagka-present po sa lab experts and it is acceptable, isa-submit na po natin ‘yan sa health technology assessment council para makapagbigay din sila ng recommendations,” she added.

(They are just finalizing the analysis so once they have presented it and it is found acceptable, we will submit their report to the health technology assessment council so they can give recommendations.)

Vergeire added that the PRC should also register before the Food and Drug Administration the testing kits it will use for collecting the samples for the saliva test.

“If all of these [requirements] are there already, and acceptable, may FDA registration, agad-agad po magagamit na natin ‘yan. We can draft a protocol so that other laboratories can also apply this,” she said.

(If all of these requirements are there already and were found acceptable, and if the test kits have FDA registration, we can immediately adopt the saliva testing. We can draft a protocol so that other laboratories can also apply this.)

PRC biomolecular laboratories head Paulyn Ubial, a former Health secretary, was quoted in earlier reports as saying that a Covid-19 test using saliva samples would only cost P1,500 to P2,000, lower than the P3,800 to P5,000 price range of Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) tests.

She added that the turnaround time for saliva testing is also less than 12 hours, as compared to PCR tests with results that can be released at least after 24 hours.

JPV