GENERAL SANTOS CITY – The opening of a testing center here for the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) will be a “game-changer” in the city’s efforts to contain and prevent the spread of the deadly disease, a health official said.
Dr. Ryan Aplicador, chief of the city government-run Dr. Jorge P. Royeca Hospital (DJPRH), said Tuesday they have fast-tracked the processing of the requirements for the operationalization of the facility, which will have an advanced laboratory setup.
The city government had contracted a company accredited and recommended by the Department of Health (DOH) and the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) for the establishment of the laboratory at the DJPRH.
It allotted an initial PHP15 million for the acquisition of a reverse transcription - polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) machine and installation of a biosafety Level 2 laboratory system.
Aplicador said the presence of the testing center would mainly level up the management in the city of suspected, probable, and even confirmed cases of Covid-19.
“We call it a game-changer because in China, they used this testing to isolate people who need to be isolated,” he told reporters.
Citing their current protocol, Aplicador said they isolate patients based on their signs and symptoms and label them as suspected Covid-19 cases.
He said these were all treated like positive cases, prompting doctors and other health care workers to use their limited supply of personal protective equipment because they could not immediately confirm the infection status of the patient.
With the RT-PCR machine and laboratory in operation, Aplicador said medical front-liners and workers would be able to manage and respond properly in case of a second, third or even fourth wave of Covid-19 resurgence.
He said the city’s Covid-19 inter-agency task force, headed by City Mayor Ronnel Rivera, has been coordinating with the DOH and RITM to speed up the approval of the testing center.
The city, he said, has already complied with the first and third of the five-stage process for the operationalization of the facility.
The first stage was the self-assessment and application while the third was the training of assigned laboratory personnel.
Aplicador said at least three assigned medical technologists have completed the training with RITM on laboratory operations and safety protocols.
He said the second stage, which is still ongoing, is the construction of the testing laboratory and installation of the required equipment.
Once completed and approved, Aplicador said they would proceed to the fourth stage, which is the trial testing and calibration in collaboration with the RITM.
“Stage 5 will be the start of the actual testing,” he added. (PNA)
* Stay at Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at
www.wirenine.comLinkback:
https://tubagbohol.mikeligalig.com/index.php?topic=101378.0
