Iloilo City Government is planning to set up its testing lab. This is to combat corona virus disease (COVID-19) as posted by Iloilo City PIO.
According to the post, Mayor Jerry P. Treñas said City Hall is looking at procuring P15-M 40-footer container van. The van is already complete with necessary facilities. The supplier will also be the one to process for accreditation. Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) will also help train medical technologists.
“This will be used as our own testing center,” said Treñas.
This is after the City Treasurer’s Office (CTO) received extra P94-M Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) funds for fight against COVID-19. CTO noted the P94,641,934 which is equivalent to one month IRA is a Bayanihan Grant to Cities and Municipalities.
Department of Budget and Management (DBM) guidelines stated the grant boosts capacity in immediately responding to COVID-19 emergency.
DBM said the money shall be exclusively used for COVID-19 related Programs, Projects and Activities (PPAs) and expenses. These include procurement of equipment, reagents, and kits for testing. Also, expenses for the operation of stand-alone/mobile Iloilo City testing lab. And also the training of personnel in the conduct of COVID-19 testing.
Certified Testing Facility
Western Visayas Medical Center started testing samples for corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19). This was last March 24, 2020 Cebu and Manila are the testing centers for samples from Western Visayas prior to this certification.
The test kits availed at WVMC will still adhere to the decision tool set by DOH. This is according to Dr. Marlyn Convocar, Regional Director of the Department of Health (DOH-CHD VI). Furthermore, persons with severe symptoms are the priority. In addition, senior citizens who exhibit symptoms and among other co-morbidities are the priorities for testing.
While we are all under extended quarantine, everyone is expected to remain vigilant. Also, all should boost their immune system, stay at home and observe social distancing. Everyone needs to conduct hand wash properly and observe cough etiquette.
