ILOILO City – The continuing return of repatriated overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and traced contacts of confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases are causing backlogs in testing and the release of results, according to the Western Visayas Medical Center (WVMC) sub-national laboratory.
Specimens are extracted from OFWs and the traced contacts for COVID-19 testing.
It takes the laboratory seven days to release the test result after the submission of a specimen, according to Dr. Stephanie Abello, the chief pathologist of the WVMC laboratory.
As of 8 a.m. of Thursday last week for example, said Abello, the laboratory already received 17,481 samples for reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing since tests started on March 23.
The laboratory acquired on May 20 a new automated Ribonucleic Acid (RNA) extraction machine to hike its testing capacity from 500 to 1,000 daily.
“But eventually, during validation, the PCR (machine) did not match the automated RNA extraction so we went back to the manual 500 (daily) target,” said Abello.
“Due to the influx of the repatriates and the contact tracing associated with the positives, it (samples) adds (up),” she said.
The laboratory also stopped its operation for two days starting May 29 due to the damage at the negative pressure room, which ensures that the pathogens will not spread outside the laboratory.
The two days of non-operation also contributed to the backlogs, she said.
“Our target now is within seven days, we can release (the results),” said Abello.
Abello said they requested another automated RNA extraction machine and another RT-PCR machine that could match.
“We can have a higher yield and faster turnaround time,” she said.
Aside from the WVMC sub-national laboratory, the Teresita Jalandoni Provincial Hospital in Silay City, Negros Occidental has also started running COVID-19 tests on June 2. (PNA)
