LIST: Hospitals offering COVID-19 RT-PCR testing for P1,750 to P2,000

MANILA – Malacañang published a list of hospitals on Tuesday that offer COVID-19 real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests at a lower cost.

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said that RT-PCR tests, which are considered the “gold standard” in detecting COVID-19, are offered at the following hospitals for P1,750 to P2,000:

1. Philippine Children’s Medical Center – Quezon City
2. Dr. José N. Rodríguez Memorial Hospital – Caloocan City
3. José B. Lingad Memorial General Hospital- San Fernando, Pampanga
4. Perpetual Help Medical Center- Las Piñas City
5. National Kidney and Transplant Institute – Quezon City
6. Philippine Lung Center – Quezon City
7. Western Visayas Medical Center- Iloilo
8. Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center – Cebu City
9. Cebu University Medical Center – Mandaue City
10. Eastern Visayas Regional Medical Center- Tacloban, Leyte
11. Baguio General Hospital- Baguio City
12. Zamboanga City Medical Center- Zamboanga City
13. Hospital de San Pablo- Tacloban, Leyte
14. Teresita L. Jalandoni- Provincial Hospital Silay City, Negros Occidental
15. Cebu Molecular Laboratory – Cebu City

COVID-19 tests in many private hospitals cost between 4,000 and even more than P10,000 to get quick results.

Roque said the government hopes to reduce the price of RT-PCR tests to around P500 once the joint test begins.

With pooled tests, samples from a group of individuals would be analyzed as one. If the results are negative, all members of the group are free of COVID-19. But if the results are positive, each individual will be tested separately for the virus.