The Iloilo City Uswag Molecular Laboratory is a premier facility in Western Visayas that offers the Gold Standard in COVID-19 testing, the Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (“RT-PCR”). It has been accredited by the Department of Health, and recognized by the agency’s Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (“RITM”), garnering 100% quality assurance rating. The laboratory’s medical technologists were trained by RITM. Its personnel are all professionals who value work ethics.
Also read: Vice President Leni Robredo Visits Uswag Molecular Lab
It offers free swab test to close contacts of COVID positive patients, returning residents, returning overseas Filipinos, indigents, and free re-swab of patients, too.
Specimen taken from individuals are immediately run on the same day, thus getting the optimum results. As stated by various medical experts, a single negative test is not a guarantee the person is virus-free. One can be tested negative the previous day, then test positive the next day.
This will happen if someone gets tested too soon from the time they were exposed. Another reason someone could test negative, and then test positive, comes from the types of tests used. For someone who has been exposed to coronavirus, it could take up to 14 days for the virus to accumulate to detectable levels.
The Uswag Molecular Laboratory was not established for profit. It was put up primarily to help in the Prevention, Detection, Isolation, Treatment, and Reintegration (PDITR) strategies of the government against COVID-19, particularly in Iloilo City, thereby stemming the tide of transmission in the metro.
With the threat of the highly transmissible Delta variant, the role of the Uswag Molecular Lab is all the more highlighted as an important agent in city’s fight against COVID-19.
It has a fast turn-around time, processing 1,000 specimen in 12 hours using four RT-PCR machines. As of July 31, 2021, it has collected more than 98,000 swabs, and tested almost 60,000 swab samples since start of operation in November 2020. (From Iloilo City Government)
