The Philippine Red Cross (PRC) Pangasinan Chapter is set to open its saliva test drive-through hubs located in malls in the province soon.

In an interview on Wednesday, PRC-Pangasinan Chapter officer-in-charge Krismar Glen Brillantes said they have finished discussing with mall administrators in central Pangasinan for the establishment of the kiosks.

Drive-through clients will have a shorter time in submitting their specimens as they will only need to proceed to the kiosks, give their saliva sample, and drive out.

“Madali lang po yon, hindi na po kailangang bumaba sa sasakyan yung tao (It will be easier as the person does not have to get off of the car),” he said.

Brillantes said for the public to avail of the service, they must book online for an appointment.

“Hindi po kami tatanggap ng bayad doon dahil magpapa-appointment na po at magbabayad na po sila bago po pumunta doon (We will not be accepting payments there because the clients will have to book an appointment where they will already pay),” he said.

Results will then be sent to the client through e-mail. The entire process would take about 24 hours, he added.

Meanwhile, the PRC-Pangasinan Chapter has already performed saliva-based testing on over 200 individuals in the province.

Despite operating for almost a month since the second week of February, saliva testing is still in its ‘experimental stage’ in the province.

Brillantes said only PRC Dagupan and Urdaneta City branches are currently open for extraction of saliva samples.

As of this posting, the PRC’s saliva testing costs only PHP2,000, more than 50 percent cheaper than the standard swab testing.

Both examinations make use of the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) method.

The PRC offices are open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., while collection dates for specimens are on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, from 8 a.m. until 12 noon. (PNA)