BACOLOD CITY –– The Philippine Red Cross (PRC) in Bacolod City will begin saliva tests for COVID-19 starting Tuesday, Feb. 2.
PRC Governor Jay Jalandoni said Bacolod could conduct 1,440 reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction tests a day using saliva samples.
“We have two machines that can each conduct 90 tests every three hours,” he said.
Training of PRC personnel for the saliva tests will be held Monday, and actual testing will start the next day.
A saliva test will cost P2,000, which is cheaper than a nasal test that costs P3,800.
Meanwhile, the PRC Bacolod will also assist in the measles, Rubella, and polio vaccination from Feb. 1 to 28.
“We will deploy teams to selected barangays,” Jalandoni said.
The project is supported by health services of the PRC national headquarters, International Committee of the Red Cross, and American Red Cross, he added.