New coronavirus testing lab opens in Lanao Norte town

Secretary Carlito Galvez, head of the National Task Against COVID-19, cuts the ribbon to open a coronavirus testing lab in Kapatagan. With him is Lanao del Norte Gov. Imelda Dimaporo. RICHEL V. UMEL

KAPATAGAN, Lanao del Norte—A laboratory for coronavirus testing opened here on Wednesday (Sept. 30), adding a boost to the provincial government’s capacity to fight COVID-19.

The laboratory was set up in the old Kapatagan Provincial Hospital building which was granted a license to operate by the Department of Health (DOH) and the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM).

The facility cost P30 million which was taken from the Bayanihan grant funds provided by the national government, said Gov. Imelda Quibranza-Dimaporo.

Adriano Suba-an, regional health chief, said the opening of the lab “serves as a great milestone in the fight against COVID-19.”

Secretary Carlito Galvez, chief of the National Task Force Against COVID-19, lauded the effort to set up the testing lab.

Currently, respiratory samples from the province are sent to Cagayan de Oro City for testing and results return after three days.

The new facility here is the sixth laboratory for coronavirus testing in northern Mindanao, the first to be owned and operated by a local government and the first outside Cagayan de Oro, the regional center.

Two of the region’s laboratories are operated by the DOH while the other three are maintained by private hospitals, all in Cagayan de Oro.

TSB