ON THE heels of President Rodrigo Duterte's order to probe the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) tests being conducted by the Philippine Red Cross (PRC), the Department of Health (DOH) assured the public on Friday, September 24, that it is constantly monitoring all laboratories.

In a virtual press briefing, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said they have regular quality assurance checks of all accredited Covid-19 laboratories in the Philippines.

"We have regular quality assurance. We are checking if there would be inaccuracies and ensure the results of the tests. All laboratories are subjected to quality assurance," said Vergeire.

"We have not been amiss in the process of quality assurance," she added.

In particular, Vergeire said the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) is conducting the quality check on Covid-19 laboratories.

"RITM has been asking for submissions to complete the process of quality assurance," said Vergeire.

Last Monday, September 20, Duterte ordered the DOH to look into reports that Covid-19 tests of PRC are producing "false positive" results.

The directive came amid the ongoing word war between Duterte and PRC Chairman Richard Gordon, who has been spearheading the Senate probe into allegedly anomalous spending of the administration using Covid-19 pandemic funds.

The PRC has already stood pat in the accuracy of the Covid-19 test results conducted by its 13 molecular laboratories.

The Red Cross said all its 13 molecular laboratories obtained a 100 percent score for the proficiency tests of the RITM. (HDT/SunStar Philippines)