The Philippine Red Cross (PRC) affirmed the benefits of saliva testing following the approval of its use by the Department of Health (DOH).
In a press briefing, PRC Chairperson and Senator Richard Gordon disclosed that the accuracy rate of saliva testing is close to the RT-PCR testing yielding 98.11%.
According to Sen. Gordon, the saliva test is also more affordable, less invasive, and produces results faster compared to swab testing. The price of the saliva test is ₱2,000 but if other institutions will be accredited to use it, the cost can be reduced to ₱1,500.
The PRC tested 136 individuals using the saliva test as it rolled out on Monday. Gordon expects that the number of tested individuals will increase in the coming days. Report from Kenneth Paciente
