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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider PH winning war vs COVID-19 – Galvez

PH winning war vs COVID-19 – Galvez

Published May 24, 2020 12:00 am
  By Minerva Newman CEBU CITY – “I believe, yes, we are winning the war. The country is winning the fight against COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019).” (Photo from OPAV/Titus Borromeo) (Photo from OPAV/Titus Borromeo) This was the confident statement of National Task Force (NTF) COVID-19 Chief Implementor Secretary Carlito Galvez, Jr. as he praised local government units LGUS) and the private sector here on their response against the COVID-19 pandemic in Central Visayas. “Ako’y natutuwa na napakaganda ng coordination ng LGU. Napakaganda ng coordination ng private sector at saka ang ng leadership katulad ng leadership na ginawa ni Secretary Mike Dino na he was able to mobilize the private sector,” Galvez said during a virtual presser Saturday at the Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas (OPAV) in Cebu City. Galvez was impressed with Cebu’s collaborative efforts to combat COVID-19, and noted that the number of recoveries has increased, while the new cases were on a plateau, and the number of deaths was now ranging from a low of four to 11 daily since May 16. “Out of 13,000 COVID cases in the country 9,800 are active with most of them, 80 percent, are asymptomatic; meaning our cases now are getting manageable,” Galvez added. According to OPAV Secretary Michael Lloyd Dino, Galvez and his deputy Secretary Vince Dizon were sent by President Duterte and Senator Bong Go to check on the COVID-19 situation in Cebu. Dizon said that the NTF is targeting to increase testing capacity in Cebu to 10,000 tests daily within the next two months. “The key to prevent another wave of the virus, and to slowly rebuild the economy was to build up our testing capacity for PCR tests,” he added. Dizon said that the NTF will be increasing the capacity of the Cebu TB Reference Laboratory Molecular Facility for COVID-19 Testing (CTRL-MFCT) at the Department of Health regional office, and the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center Sub-National Laboratory. The two laboratories will each get an automated extraction machine that will increase their capacity to 2,000 tests daily and to further ramp up testing capacity in Cebu, two more molecular laboratories will be set up, Dizon bared. Dizon went on to disclose that a 2,000-capacity laboratory will also be set up at the Mactan Cebu International Airport (MCIAA), and another 2,000-capacity modular laboratory donated by United Laboratories, which will be located at the Cebu Doctors Hospital that is expected to be accredited within the next two to three weeks. Dizon also said that Philippine Red Cross (PRC) Chairman Senator Dick Gordon had promised that the PRC will be setting up another laboratory with a capacity of 4,000 tests daily. Galvez went on that the NTF is now preparing the protocols to prevent the occurrence of the second wave and these include the setting up of one-stop-shop testing centers at the airports and ports.
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