Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 10) — Maynilad Water Services Inc. partnered with De Los Santos Medical Center for the construction of a ₱15-million COVID-19 facility to boost the country’s testing capacity.
The facility will be located in the DLSMC complex in Quezon City and will conduct reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction or RT-PCR tests, the water concessionaire said on Wednesday. This mode of testing is considered the “gold standard” in detecting the coronavirus.
The center will be able to cater to 200 patients a day and is targeted to start operations in August 2020.
“This laboratory will be a testament to our partnership and is also our small contribution to our country and to the MPIC group in its quest for doubling the testing capacity in the country,” Maynilad President and CEO Ramoncito Fernandez said, referring to the Metro Pacific Investments Corporation.
The country has 41 licensed RT-PCR laboratories and 14 licensed GeneXpert laboratories as of June 8, the Health department said. At least 143 laboratories have applied for accreditation, with 119 of them at stage 3 or above in the 5-stage processing.
The Health department said that the country has an estimated testing capacity of 32,000 daily, but actual testing capacity is only at 8,500 to 9,500 a day.
To date, the total number of cases in the country has exceeded 22,000.
READ: PH surpasses 30,000 target daily COVID-19 testing capacity – Roque
