Davao City: The Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC) has received a total of 100,000 consumables from the Department of Health (DOH). The said consumables will be used to extract samples for the Automated Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) testing kits.
The said allocation of consumables is good news since SPMC previously reported that their supply of consumables to be used for the collection of samples is almost depleted.
The provided consumables will be utilized for the expanded testing capacity of the SPMC since it is a sub-national testing facility for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The Chief of Medical Staff for SPMC Dr. Ricardo Audan discussed how the said consumables will be utilized for both acquired and donated Automated RT-PCR machines from the private sector.
“Just yesterday we have received consumables numbered at around 100,000 and these contributions are very important in using our Automated RT-PCR [testing] kits since we have a lot of testing kits but we lack consumables for extraction [of test samples],” Dr. Audan said.
The said allocation of the consumables to be used with the Automated RT-PCR testing kits was expedited through the efforts of the newly appointed Health Undersecretary Dr. Leopoldo Vega. Audan said that the consumables are a welcome development amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and shall be put to good use for a considerable amount of time before being depleted.
“This allocation of consumables is from the national office of DOH and through the efforts of Dr. Vega … this will be used for a considerable span of time at our sub-national testing laboratory,” Dr. Audan said. (KPLCaro/PIA XI)