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MANILA – The Department of Health (DOH) authorized a laboratory in Pampanga on Saturday to carry out COVID-19 tests in an attempt to expand the country’s testing capacity.
The Sub-Pandemic Reference Laboratory at the José B. Lingad Memorial Regional Hospital (JBLMRH) in the city of San Fernando aims to perform 3,000 tests daily, said Health Secretary Francisco Duque III.
“I would like to announce that the license to operate in this particular laboratory has been issued … We can operate today,” he said during the facility’s launch.
The Diagnostic and Molecular Pathology Laboratory is funded by a $ 3 million grant from the Asian and Pacific Disaster Response Fund of the Asian Development Bank.
“This state-of-the-art facility is part of the government’s strategy to increase the number of laboratories across the country and significantly increase their COVID-19 testing capabilities to flatten the pandemic curve and save lives,” said the ADB Vice President, Ahmed M. Saeed said in a statement.
The Manila-based lender is also working with DOH on a $ 125 million project to complement the lab’s operations and support the government’s response to the crisis.
As the country increases testing with the opening of a new COVID-19 laboratory, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles expressed optimism that the Philippines could overcome the crisis.
“If we are successful in the smear and the tests, we can slowly open up the economy,” he said in remarks at the event.
Hospital staff trained by the Beijing Genomics Institute will supervise the tests.
Dr. Monserrat Chichioco, Head of JBLMRH Medical Center II, said the hospital was hiring medical personnel so that it could operate 24 hours a day and achieve its goal of 3,000 tests per day.
As of Friday, the Philippines has registered 10,463 cases of the new coronavirus. The count includes 696 who succumbed to the disease and 1,734 who recovered from COVID-19. – With a report from Trisha Mostoles, ABS-CBN News
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