Maynilad to build P15-M virus testing center

MAYNILAD Water Services, Inc. has teamed up with the De los Santos Medical Center (DLSMC) to build a P15-million testing and laboratory center to boost the country’s testing capacity and help contain the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

“We are happy with the decision we made,” said Maynilad President and Chief Executive Ramoncito S. Fernandez on selecting the hospital as the beneficiary of the donation.

The new facility will be built within the medical center’s complex in Quezon City. It will conduct and process reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests for suspected COVID-19 patients. RT-PCR is the standard testing procedure recommended by the World Health Organization in detecting the virus.

“From our own experience, DLSMC has been very efficient and flexible in servicing the needs of Maynilad. This laboratory will be a testament to our partnership and is also our small contribution to our country and to the MPIC group in its quest for doubling the testing capacity in the country,” Mr. Fernandez said.

Once operational in August 2020, the testing center will have the capacity to test and process swab samples from about 200 patients daily. Maynilad also continues with relief activities for frontliners and urban poor communities during the pandemic

Both Maynilad and DLSMC are companies under Metro Pacific Investments Corp., with DLSMC as one of 16 hospitals under Metro Pacific Hospital Holdings, Inc.