
The University of the Philippines (UP), through its Philippine Genome Center (PGC) in UP Visayas and in UP Mindanao, on March 11, 2022 announced that it is now capable of sequencing the genome of SARS-CoV-2 from community samples in both island groups.
The fully-equipped satellite facilities, made possible through the joint efforts of UP, Department of Science and Technology (DOST), Department of Health (DOH), and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), have begun genome sequencing services of nasopharyngeal or oropharyngeal swab samples from DOH-licensed COVID-19 testing laboratories in cooperation with the DOH – Epidemiology Bureau (DOH-EB), to detect SARS-CoV-2 variants circulating in the Visayas and Mindanao regions.

Themed, ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ผ๐น๐น๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป๐ด๐๐ต๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐บ๐ถ๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ป๐ฒ๐๐โthe expansion of the genomic biosurveillance capacity in Visayas and Mindanao was established to increase the number of weekly samples from around the archipelago for ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ช๐ฏ๐จ, and to address the logistical challenges of having the samples be transported from labs around the country to the genome center in Diliman. This is made possible through the support of the Department of Health (Philippines), Department of Science and Technology-Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (DOST PCHRD), University of the Philippines System, and the Philippine Genome Center together with its satellite facilities in the Visayas (Philippine Genome Center Visayas) and Mindanao (Philippine Genome Center Mindanao), as well as funding support from the Department of Budget and Management.









