BACOLOD CITY –– Testing clinical specimens for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) can now be conducted in Negros Occidental.
The Research Institute of Tropical Medicine (RITM) has given the go-signal for the Teresita Lopez Jalandoni Provincial Hospital (TLJPH) molecular laboratory in Silay City to perform independent testing for COVID-19 through Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR).
“A little past 10 tonight (June 1), we received a certification that the Molecular Lab of TLJPH is now a certified COVID-19 laboratory. This is a big progress and development in the efforts of the provincial government in handling the COVID pandemic,” said Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson.
“Our lab is fully operational. With our very own COVID lab, we will be able to test more Negrenses in a timely manner, including the returning OFWs (overseas Filipino workers), locally stranded individuals and returning Negrenses,” he added.
Negros Occidental had to rely on the RITM in Muntinlupa City and the Western Visayas Medical Center in Iloilo for COVID-19 test results, which often took longer to be released.
The TLJPH molecular laboratory in Silay City can conduct 1,000 PCR tests a day.