ILOILO – To help make the Western Visayas Medical Center (WVMC) sub-national laboratory more efficient in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) testing, the provincial government of Iloilo lent it a fully-automated RNA extraction machine with 1,008 testing kits.
The RNA extraction machine cost P1.950 million. The provincial government purchased it for the COVID-19 testing laboratory it is building at the Iloilo Provincial Hospital in Pototan town.
While the P9-million laboratory is still being set up, Gov. Arthur Defensor Jr. deemed it wise to lend the machine to WVMC.
Dr. Stephanie Abello, chief pathologist of WVMC, received the machine from Defensor recently.
According to the governor, the provincial government also purchased a P2.7-million reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test machine and as soon as it is delivered this would be lent to WVMC, too.
The WVMC laboratory processes an average of 800 specimens a day.
The delayed release of test results also delays the discharge of COVID-negative people from quarantine facilities./PN
