The Philippine Red Cross Leyte Chapter based in this city has started offering saliva reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test for coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).

Feliciano Alarcon, Red Cross Leyte Chapter head, said on Thursday the collection of specimens for the saliva RT-PCR is scheduled every Tuesday and Thursday morning.

The collected specimens are then sent to their testing facility in Cebu.

The results are returned after 24 to 36 hours, Alarcon said in an interview.

The test result is sent simultaneously to the client, the Red Cross chapter, and the Department of Health.

Since they launched the test on April 27, they have already collected 29 specimens from walk-in clients. Each test only costs PHP2,000, cheaper than a swab test.

“The saliva RT-PCR is non-invasive unlike the nasopharyngeal and oral RT-PCR because you only have to produce saliva that is about three-fourth of the test tube that we provide,” Alarcon told the Philippine News Agency (PNA).

Alarcon advised clients to refrain from eating, drinking, smoking, and putting on lipstick and other mouth-related activities at least 30 minutes before the scheduled collection of a specimen to ensure that it is free from contaminants.

“This is in support of the Covid-19 prevention efforts of the government especially on the part of surveillance because the best tool for surveillance is testing. This is the best way for us to support the government since our resources in Red Cross are not that big,” Alarcon said.

Since the collection of saliva specimen samples for RT-PCR is new, the Red Cross will start their information drive to all local government units in Leyte province by next week.

He added that since there are still no collection sites for specimens in Samar Island, residents from the three Samar provinces may visit their office in this city if they want to avail of the service. (PNA)