Cagayan de Oro’s COVID-19 testing lab operational in two weeks

MANILA, Philippines – A COVID-19 testing laboratory in Cagayan de Oro City in Misamis Oriental will be functional in the next two weeks.

According to Cagayan de Oro Mayor Oscar Moreno, the laboratory will have polymerase chain reaction (PCR) machines,  which health authorities consider as the gold standard in COVID-19 testing compared to the rapid test kits.

The machines were procured with the help of the Department of Health.

“Our own testing lab is one of the city’s many efforts to combat COVID-19. Our aim is to maintain Cagayan de Oro’s classification as a low-risk area for the virus,” Moreno said in a statement.

He also said that the testing laboratory would be a big help to areas adjacent to CDO, like towns in the Caraga Administrative Region and the Zamboanga Peninsula.

“We have a good handle of the situation, but we need to intensify and do some more,” he explained.  “The dangerous virus is still out there.”

Cagayan de Oro is one of the cities and areas outside of Luzon that was placed on a community quarantine due to the possible COVID-19 cases in the city.  As of now, the city has admitted 88 patients, with 11 testing positive for the disease, two have died, and six have recovered.

There are 12 suspected cases in the city.  As of now, the Northern Mindanao Medical Center, which serves as Region 9’s COVID-19 referral hospital, only tests suspected cases and those with severe acute respiratory infection.

According to the Cagayan de Oro Health Office, its house-to-house surveillance has covered around 50,000 households as of Monday.  Local health officers found 2,127 persons with influenza-like-illnesses and acute respiratory illnesses — of which 1,557 have been treated already.

Still, the number of cases in Cagayan de Oro is relatively lower compared to national data.

As of Tuesday, the DOH has recorded 7,958 COVID-19 patients nationwide, of whom 530 have died and 975 have recovered.

Worldwide, over 3.04 million individuals have been infected, while at least 210,913 have died from the disease and over 889,406 have recovered from it.

/atm