BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson is hopeful that the Negros Bio-lab (Testing Center) at the Teresita Locsin Jalandoni Provincial Hospital in Silay City, Negros Occidental would be accredited by the Department of Health (DOH) and the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM).
“We are closing to the end line than last week and we hope to have it before end of the month,” Lacson said.
The center already has 12,000 reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) kits. PCR machine peripherals will arrive soon, said Lacson.
RT-PCR tests are used as confirmatory tests for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
RT-PCR testing requires at least BioSafety Level 2 facilities, specialized machinery, testing kits and reagents, and trained medical personnel. All facilities need to be jointly certified by the DOH and the RITM.
DOH has committed to expedite the certification process for existing laboratories, and for new laboratories that will be built.
“DOH welcomes the private sector’s support and participation in aggressively expanding COVID testing capacity in the country, as well as in efforts to ramp up isolation and treatment,” DOH secretary Francisco Duque said.
Secretary Carlito Galvez, the National Task Force COVID-19 chief Implementer, also said: “We can mitigate the effects of COVID-19 on our economic well-being if we aggressively push for testing so that we can locate, isolate and care for COVID-19 carriers and those who are sick in order to keep our communities safe enough to resume a level of economic activities.”/PN
