CITY OF SAN FERNANDO — The installation of a laboratory for mass testing of Covid-19 at the Jose B. Lingad Memorial Regional Hospital here went into high gear a day after the equipment from Shenzhen, China arrived via the Clark International Airport.
On Thursday, three technical experts from the Beijing Genomics Institute started training a JBLMRH team in the setting up of the complete diagnostic molecular pathology laboratory at the 7th floor of the new outpatient department building, said Dr. MonserratChichioco, medical director of the hospital. The training is to last until Friday, she added.
A grant of $2.5 million from the Asian Development Bank funded the laboratory to develop the capacity of JBLMRH as a pandemic subnational reference laboratory (PSRL) to detect the presence of SARS-CoV2 virus.
Beijing Genomics, registered in the People’s Republic of China, provides a comprehensive solution for the set-up of a high-quality large capacity laboratory facility. This includes provision of complete equipment, reagents, test kits, consumables, personal protective equipment, training of national staff, and electronic management software and hardware. The solution also includes quality assurance system and waste decontamination and disposal.
In an earlier statement, the Department of Health Central Luzon office said Beijing Genomics will station its own full-time staff in the PSRL facility to: (1) provide guidance during the preparation of the site, (2) train the national staff, (3) commission the facility, and (4) provide technical support during the first weeks of operation. Subsequently, it will provide permanent online and intermittent on-site technical support for trouble shooting and maintenance.
DOH-Central Luzon director Cesar Cassion said the installation and commissioning of the laboratory is scheduled from April 22 to 30 and will accept Covid-19 samples to test the equipment from May 2 to 10.
“The laboratory will first need to test five positive samples as confirmed by RITM [Research Institute for Tropical Medicine]. Once all five positive samples have been confirmed as correct, the laboratory is expected to be certified by May 15 and is allowed to test samples at full scale by May 16,” Cassion explained.
