Coronavirus testing in Cebu may slow down with ‘decontamination’ of main lab
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Testing for the new coronavirus (COVID-19) in Cebu may slow down for a few days following the “decontamination” of the main laboratory at the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC).
Dr. Jaime Bernadas, director of the Department of Health in Central Visayas (DOH-7), said the VSMMC subnational laboratory (SNL) is still unavailable while the two other accredited laboratories—TB Regional Laboratory and the ARC Hospital in Lapu-Lapu City—are still being used.
The SNL has four machines that are capable of around 80 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests each per day.
The two other accredited laboratories, the TB Regional Laboratory and the ARC Hospital in Lapu-Lapu City have lower testing capabilities.
Bernadas said they also need an automated ribonucleic acid extractor (RNA) to expedite the examination of swab samples.
He, however, denied reports that a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) machine at the VSMMC broke down.
“The automated RNA extractors are coming. When both will arrive, we can have a capacity of 2,000 to 3,000 tests per day. We’re also addressing the importation process of the extractors care of our partners,” he said.
Usually, the DOH-7 releases over 200 tests per day.
On May 13, there were about 329 tests conducted while on May 14, only 88 tests were released for the entire Central Visayas region.
On May 15, a total of only 28 tests were conducted.
The DOH-7 had not released official COVID-19 test results for May 16.
There were no details as to why there were no test results released by the local health agency. Bernadas, however, assured the public that they will be “back on track” in about two days.
Since the start of operations of the COVID-19 testing laboratories here, the entire island of Cebu was able to test 11,792 as of May 15.
Some 8,436 were swab tested in Cebu City and 1,536, in Cebu province. Cebu City has a population of 1.01 million residents while Cebu Province has a population of 3.22 million as of May 11.
A total of 1,057 were also tested in Mandaue City while Lapu-Lapu City conducted 763 tests since March. Mandaue City has a population of 398,106 while Lapu-Lapu City has 448,008 residents. With reports from Ador Vincent Mayol
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