The Philippine Red Cross (PRC) said Sunday it would reduce its COVID-19 swab testing fees by P200 starting December 1, in its effort to encourage more people to get tested for the disease.
PRC said its swab tests cost would be decreased from P4,000 to P3,800 for walk-ins, private clients, and inbound passengers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).
For express or faster results (12 to 24 hours), Red Cross would charge P4,800.
The PRC will charge P3,300 for local government units and P4,800 for institutions.
“The lowering of prices would give way to more Filipinos to afford COVID-19 testing and would help stop the spread of the virus,” PRC chairman Richard Gordon said in an emailed statement.
“The lowering of prices would give way to more Filipinos to afford COVID-19 testing and would help stop the spread of the virus,” Gordon said.
Last week, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III announced that the price cap for RT-PCR (nasal swab) test for COVID-19 should be from P3,800 to P5,000 at the maximum.
Duque said that the price cap, outlined under the Joint Administrative Order of the health and trade departments, sets the price cap of the RT-PCR test at P3,800 for public testing centers and P4,500 to P5,000 for private hospitals and laboratories.