La Trinidad, Benguet – Benguet caretaker congressman Eric Yap continuous to fulfill his promise to the people of Benguet on his continued genuine public service as he personally turned over to the officials of the Benguet General Hospital (BeGH) the additional reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) machine to sustain the continuous operation of the molecular laboratory that will help speed up the turnaround time in the release of Corona virus Disease (COVID-19) swab test results.
Yap also brought with him the technician that will install the additional RT-PCR machine and will repair the original one to ensure that there will be no unnecessary backlog in the tests being undertaken by the molecular laboratory so that suspected and probable CVOVID cases will not be confined in their homes and quarantine facilities waiting for at least ten days for the release of their swab test results.
The lawmaker stated that there is a need for the BeGH molecular laboratory to be fully operational to maximize its testing potentials to help decongest the Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center (BGHMC) molecular laboratory and so that it could also conduct tests on the specimens coming from other parts of the Cordillera which is actually the primary purpose of the put up of the laboratory.
Further, Congressman Yap is also working on the purchase of another automated extraction machine that will appropriately equip the BeGH molecular laboratory to enhance the operation of the facility that will be beneficial to the greater interest of the welfare of the suspected and probable COVID patients wanting to immediately know the status of their swab tests.
Yap disclosed that Health Secretary Francisco Duque III assured him that the health department will be providing at least 30,000 test kits to help boost the conduct of aggressive testing in the different parts of the province to ascertain the percentage of the population that is infected with the virus so that policy makers and decision makers will be guided on the implementation of the necessary interventions to immediately contain the rapid spread of the virus as there is already community transmission of the virus in the province.
Yap pointed out that he will continue to work for the aggressive implementation of prevent, detect, isolate, test and re-integrate interventions that will contribute on the overall efforts of concerned government agencies and local governments to prevent the further spread of the deadly virus among the populace for Benguet to be able to significantly reduce the risk status to allow the gradual and safe transition to the new normal. (Joseph Manzano, RPN DZBS Baguio OIC | Dex See)