PAGADIAN CITY — The ₱30-M worth of Covid-19 molecular biology laboratory of Zamboanga del Sur is 95% completed.
Thus, disclosed Dr. Anatalio Cagampang, Jr., chief of Zamboanga Del Sur Medical Center (ZDSMC) and officer-in-charge of the Integrated Provincial Health Office (IPHO) during the Covid-19 Task Force meeting here.
Cagampang said Governor Victor Yu constructed these facilities to help fast-track and expand its capacity to test and identify COVID-19 patients so that they can be treated immediately, and it can also test more people faster.
The laboratory which was constructed on April 21, this year is a testing center that can help speed up the confirmation of coronavirus cases in the province.
Cagampang said the laboratory is not an ordinary laboratory. “It is a national laboratory intended to treat our COVID-19 patients,” he announced.
He said that last week, the teams from the Department of Health (DOH) and the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RTMI) in Manila visited the building and assessed the status of the COVID-19 molecular biology laboratory.
Cagampang said 70% of the laboratory equipment was already procured and delivered and 3 other equipment from China are scheduled to be delivered 3rd week, this July. He added that the medical staff of ZDSMC will undergo 7 days of intensive training on COVID-19.
“Our medical staff is scheduled to undergo training in Manila but due to the pandemic, instead I requested Dr. Gregory Jennings of the World Health Organization (WHO) to conduct the training at ZDSMC since we have a limited number of staff,” Cagampang reported.
After the training, a proficiency testing will be conducted before it can begin testing.
“If the requirements will be completed, hopefully, the laboratory can operate on the 3rd week of August,” Cagampang concluded.
The provincial government is very eager that the laboratory will operate since the medical staff is ready and the DOH and RITM are also ready to guide them.