‘Drive thru’ COVID-19 saliva test launched at Robinsons

MANILA, Philippines — To scale up the country’s testing capacity against COVID-19, the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) yesterday launched “drive thru” saliva testing in Robinsons malls.

Under the memorandum of agreement signed between PRC chairman Richard Gordon and Robinsons Land Corp. (RLC), the Red Cross will establish “drive thru” saliva collection sites at 15 Robinsons malls nationwide.

“PRC has pursued a wider availability of saliva RT-PCR (reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction) tests for being a non-invasive, quicker and faster alternative in COVID-19 testing. This endeavor will be beneficial for the workers and students who are striving to get tested quickly and get back to their work, study and their lives,” Gordon said.

Twelve PRC chapters will be mobilized to man the testing sites in the following Robinsons malls: Angeles City and Starmills in Pampanga; Luisita in Tarlac City; Metro East, Novaliches, Otis, Malabon in Metro Manila; and the cities of Antipolo, Lipa, Iloilo, Cebu, Bacolod, Iligan and Santiago.

Each site can accommodate three persons every 10 minutes. Saliva testing currently costs P2,000 but PRC said prices can be lowered if many people will be tested.

Saliva, as a specimen for COVID-19 testing, is “non-invasive” compared to swab testing because it only requires a person to spit saliva into a collection tube.

PRC began saliva testing in its Metro Manila laboratories last month after getting approval from the Department of Health.

More tests will be rolled out in 10 provincial molecular laboratories later this month.  – Neil Jayson Servallos