MANDALUYONG CITY -- Chairman and CEO Sen. Richard "Dick" Gordon announced that the Philippine Red Cross Logistics Multipurpose Center (PLMC) molecular laboratory underwent a multistage process for COVID-19 lab assessment and received a 5-star rating from the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) on December 13, 2021.

As the National Reference Laboratory for emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases, RITM regularly conducts proficiency testing to ensure and maintain the high-quality performance of independent laboratories.

At the start of the pandemic, when the RITM was able to conduct only 300 tests a day, it was the vision of Red Cross Chairman and CEO Sen. Dick Gordon to establish molecular laboratories nationwide to ramp up the country’s national testing output. The PLMC molecular laboratory started operating last April 25, 2020 and is capable of testing 4,000 tests daily. Since then, thirteen more molecular laboratories have been established throughout the archipelago with a total testing capacity of 60,000 a day. The Red Cross is the foremost in testing with more than 5 million tests, while the next organization has done only over a million.

“We have surpassed the 5 million mark in COVID-19 testing at hindi tayo titigil. We test to save lives! Napaka-importante ng pagtetest dahil dito natin malalaman kung sino ang mayroon COVID-19. Through testing agad, mahihiwalay natin ang positive individuals upang hindi na makapanghawa pa ng iba," PRC Chairman and CEO Sen. Dick Gordon said.

To date, PRC has conducted over 5,056,996 tests nationwide of which 899,119 are from the PLMC molecular laboratory. Chairman Gordon also encourages everyone to get tested regularly to ensure the safety of the people around them this holiday season. (Philippine Red Cross)