Zubiri donates COVID-19 test kits to Mindanao hospitals

Turnover of Rapid testing Kits at the DOH Region 10 office: Third from left is DOH Regional Dir. Adriano P. Subaan, NMMC Head Dr. Jose Chan, and CDO Councilor Zaldy Ocon, together with the staff of Sen. Zubiri. Contributed photo

MANILA, Philippines — To aid the country’s continuing battle against the coronavirus pandemic, Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel F. Zubiri has widen the scope of the government’s initiative by donating 6,000 COVID-19 antibody diagnostic kits to hospitals to his home region of Mindanao.

• 2,000 kits for the Bukidnon Provincial Medical Center in Malaybalay, Bukidnon,

• 2,000 kits for Northern Mindanao Medical Center in Cagayan de Oro, Misamis Oriental, 

• 1,000 test kits for Caraga Regional Hospital in Surigao, Surigao del Norte, 

• 1,000 kits for Cotabato Regional and Medical Center in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

All are set to receive the donations on the 20th and 21st of April.

This is the second wave of COVID-19 test kit donations made by Zubiri, after he spearheaded a donation of an equal number of PCR test kits to the Philippine General Hospital through the University of the Philippines – National Institutes of Health earlier this month.

“Kung sa Metro Manila lang tayo mag-focus, hindi natin matatalo itong COVID,” Zubiri insisted. “The longer we hold other regions back from massive testing, the higher the chances that the virus will continue to spread there, even with community quarantine. We can’t afford for that to happen. Dapat maagapan natin as soon as possible.”

The testing kits to be donated are the rapid antibody testing kits which was recently promoted by President Rodrigo Duterte during his weekly briefings which could be used without the need of testing laboratories. 

“I know the gold standard of testing for COVID-19 are the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test kits such as those we donated to PGH but in the absence of these laboratories across the country then this will initially have to do” Zubiri said.

“I am prioritizing these areas of Mindanao as the DOH has yet to accredit a single testing lab in these areas. This is one of my biggest frustrations as there is only one accredited laboratory in Mindanao located in Davao City and nowhere else at the moment. The DOH should cut the bureaucratic red tape and at least focus on regional laboratories and testing centers.” 

While Luzon, particularly Metro Manila, holds majority of the country’s COVID-19 cases so far, Mindanao has not been spared from the virus. There have been over 130 positive cases in Mindanao as of writing, an alarming number given the limited testing capacity in the region so far.

Zubiri, who himself had been diagnosed with COVID-19 and has recovered from it, voiced sympathy for health care workers in Mindanao: “So many nurses, doctors, hospital workers back home have reached out to me, asking if there’s a way we can help them. Nasa frontlines sila araw-araw, risking their own wellbeing for us, and yet they can’t get tested because of shortage of kits. It’s disheartening. I hope some of the test kits that we’re sending out can be allocated for our health workers, so they can continue with their noble duty to our people.”

“We really need nationwide testing. That’s the only way we can properly identify the scope of this virus, and the only way we can begin to eliminate it.”

Dr. Adriano Suba-an, DOH-10 regional director, said that although the health department used the real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) as the preferred method to detect  the virus that caused COVID-19, the rapid testing kits that would detect the antibodies also would have its uses.

“We are actually going to make use of this for some other purposes that is going to help us make decisions for our doctors,” Suba-an said.

Edited by JPV