BAGUIO CITY – The city is eyeing to put up its own coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) testing laboratory, Mayor Benjamin Magalong said on Wednesday.
The laboratory would augment the testing work done at the Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center (BGHMC), a sub-national testing laboratory for Covid-19 in northern Luzon, catering to Regions 1, 2, and the Cordillera Administrative Region.
Magalong is hoping the laboratory would be operational within two to three months.
Once installed, the laboratory would help speed up efforts to find out the extent of infection in the city and the Cordilleras; improve contact tracing to contain the virus, and facilitate the timely medical intervention for persons infected with the disease, Magalong said.
“From 600-700 a day, we could do some 1,000 tests a day,” he said.
In a recent meeting with Magalong, National Task Force on Covid-19 chief implementer, Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., said the national government is willing to provide a Reverse Transmission Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) machine, an automated extraction machine and a bio-security cabinet that will cost PHP7.1 million.
Earlier, Galvez helped the city source out 3,000-rapid test kits and PHP10.2-million worth of personal protective equipment (PPE) sets, which included 5,000 bodysuits, 5,000 face shields, 5,000 pairs of shoe covers, 5,000 lab gowns, and 5,000 N-95-masks, among others.
Magalong proposed that other tools and equipment required to secure accreditation from the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine would be sourced from private partners willing to enter into a joint venture with the city.
The city’s molecular laboratory and the hiring of trained personnel are part of the city government’s recovery and resiliency plan that would usher in a “new normal”, Magalong said. **By Pigeon Lobien , PNA
