The University of the Philippines campus in Los Baños can now perform testing for the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) as the Department of Health-Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (DOH-RITM) gave the school’s new Covid-19 Molecular Diagnostic Laboratory (CMDL) the green light to operate.

In a news release on Monday night, the UPLB announced that the DOH-RITM gave the laboratory the certification needed so that it can now perform its duties as an independent testing center.

he DOH Health Facilities and Service Regulatory Bureau also gave the CMDL the license to operate until the end of the year.

The development came after the CMDL’s six laboratory analysts scored 100 percent in nucleic acid extraction, reagent preparation, and real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction.

The proficiency test in these areas serves as the last stage of assessment before DOH and RITM can give a testing center the right to conduct Covid-19 testing.

According to Rex Demafelis, UPLB vice chancellor for research and extension and also leads the school’s Task Force Laban ng Bayan Kontra Covid-19, the CMDL will begin accepting samples on July 6.

The CMDL, located in the UPLB Agricultural and Life Sciences Complex, will serve as a subnational testing center for Laguna and neighboring provinces. (PNA)