Tarlac gov gives 3-month pay to buy COVID-19 test kits

Tarlac Gov. Susan Yap. FILE PHOTO / MARIA ADELA CALAYAG

TARLAC CITY – Gov. Susan Yap donated her salary for the next three months to buy 500 testing kits worth P375,000 for the Tarlac Provincial Hospital (TPH) in Tarlac City and other government hospitals in the province.

Dr. Gary Role, TPH chief of hospital, said people who were exposed to infected patients, those who manifested symptoms and who are not elderly would be tested first.

The tests will not determine actual infection. Instead, the kits find out if an individual has developed antibodies to fight flu-like symptoms so they would receive the appropriate medical care while awaiting results from a Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test that would confirm infections.

Tarlac province will set up a testing center that can conduct 120 tests per day by the middle of May. “The Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (which serves as the central testing laboratory for COVID-19 cases) uses the PCR test. That is what our molecular laboratory will do, too,” Yap said in an interview.

Earlier, members of the Tarlac Provincial Board donated their entire salaries for the month of April, amounting to P1,222,828.36 to help the province combat the COVID 19 pandemic.

Edited by TSB