At least 40 staff of Philippines' COVID-19 lab test positive for virus

At least 40 healthcare workers of the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM), the Philippines' main COVID-19 test laboratory, have tested positive for the virus, the RITM director said on Monday.

RITM Director Celia Carlos said the infected healthcare workers, who are now quarantined in the RITM dormitory, are asymptomatic.

According to Carlos, the first personnel who contracted the virus was an encoder who tested positive on April 4. It is suspected that the employee got the virus from the community and not from the RITM, she added.

Nevertheless, Carlos said the RITM is undergoing disinfection procedures to ensure the safety of the facility.

RITM is the country's primary facility for testing samples from patients for possible COVID-19 infection. The scaling down operation is expected to slow down the pace of testing.

The Philippines now has 17 COVID-19 testing facilities, including the RITM.

As of April 20, the Philippines has 6,459 confirmed COVID-19 cases, including 428 deaths and 613 recoveries.