Inside the laboratory. Photos courtesy of Bataan provincial government
BALANGA CITY — The provincial government on Monday announced the opening a few days from now of a testing laboratory for coronavirus disease here.
Gov. Albert Garcia said the laboratory that will be fully operational on May 15 is considered by the Department of Health as an extension testing facility for Covid-19 of the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine.
He said that the provincial government has funded the project for P20 million. Part of the amount was used in the purchase of two PCR machines (qPCRand RT – PCR) which he said are categorized by DOH as gold standard that have 95- 98% accuracy test results.
Arriving anytime are 5,000 test kits, part of the 45,000 ordered from the Manila HealthTek which the governor said will be completely delivered soon.
The laboratory has the capacity to test 150 cases daily.
“Kapag tayo ay mayroon nang sariling testing facility, mas madali nang matutukoy ang mga kasong positibo sa Covid-19. Agad silang maihihiwalay sa karamihan at mabibigyan ng lunas upang hindi na makahawa. Dahil dito, hindi na natin tatawaging invisible ang ating kalabang virus,” Garcia said.
“Sa ganitong paraan, mas magkakaroon ng tamang paghahanda ang ating mga health workers, magagamit nang mas mainam ang mga ospital at lahat ng isolation facilities na ating itinalaga sa lalawigan ayon sa pangangailangan ng mga pasyente,” Garcia added. “At mas makasisiguro tayo sa kaligtasan ng ating mga kababayan habang hinihintay pa ng lahat ang katuparan ng bakuna na tuluyang pupuksa sa Covid–19.”
Garcia said the laboratory has already a Stage 4 accreditation and they are just waiting it to be accredited into Stage 5 to be able to test Covid cases like what RITM is doing.
Medical technologists and pathologists of the Bataan General Hospital and Medical Center (BGHMC) have already trained extensively at the University of the Philippines and the Lung Center.
Geof Loyola of the Office of the Governor is in–charge of the project while government-run BGHMC head Dr. Glory Baltazar will manage the laboratory.
