Bataan opens COVID-19 testing laboratory
Published Jun 11, 2020 00:00 am
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Updated Jun 11, 2020 00:00 am
By Shirley Pizarro
The province of Bataan has made a giant leap today in its fight against the Coronavirus with the much-awaited opening and launch this morning, June 11, of the 1Bataan-BGHMC PCR Laboratory, the first-ever COVID-19 testing facility in Bataan.
(BATAAN PIO / MANILA BULLETIN)
Bataan Gov. Albert S. Garcia and Dr. Glory Baltazar, chief of Bataan General Hospital and Medical Center (BGHMC) led the opening rites which was also attended by other local government officials, as well as public and private health officers including Dinalupihan Mayor Gila Garcia and Provincial Health Office (PHO) head Dr. Rosanna Buccahan, among others.
The ongoing expanded testing being done in the province definitely got a boost from the completion of the 1Bataan-BGHMC PCR Lab. Dr. Baltazar said they can now conduct 250 tests per day in two shifts.
“Now, the results will be available in two to three days tops, a far cry from the 2-3 weeks waiting time we used to have back when specimens were hand-delivered at the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) or at the Lung Center of the Philippines.”
Baltazar said, “There are four pathologists and 16 med techs who were trained to operate the PCR machines in the lab. This is on top of the GeneXpert machines that we will also be using primarily for emergency cases.”
The GeneXpert machines, which allows us to obtain PCR results of COVID tests in less than an hour at 95 to 97 percent accuracy, were given to BGHMC by the Department of Health (DOH).
At the same time, Baltazar allayed the fears of the public on the possible contamination that could result from infection in the lab.
“We had to make sure that all the precautionary measures are in place. We cannot risk contamination anymore. We have everything ready now, the negative pressure, the hepa-filter and the bio-safety tools. We have created a strict protocol inside the laboratory to prevent contamination,” she stressed.
Gov. Garcia called the auspicious occasion a “good development” considering the events that transpired in the last three months that left the world reeling from the onslaught of the coronavirus pandemic.
Garcia said, “the launching of our very own 1Bataan-BGHMC PCR Laboratory is indeed welcome news. We have become one of the few local government units (LGUs) with this capability. So now, we can readily identify COVID-19 positive patients, isolate and treat them at once, and conduct an effective contact-tracing system to prevent the spread of the virus and possibly eradicate it in the long run.”
He said that with an efficient system in place, especially now that the economy has partially opened with the more than 20,000 workforce in Bataan returning to work, “we will surely have a better chance of preventing a second wave of this novel pandemic from happening.”
Garcia paid tribute to the heroism of the medical frontliners, particularly from the BGHMC. He said, “no doubt, the trials strengthened them. It was very challenging during the first few weeks of the pandemic, but they remained focused and courageous.They didn’t back down and pressed on to serve. For that, we are truly thankful to them all.”
(BATAAN PIO / MANILA BULLETIN)
Bataan Gov. Albert S. Garcia and Dr. Glory Baltazar, chief of Bataan General Hospital and Medical Center (BGHMC) led the opening rites which was also attended by other local government officials, as well as public and private health officers including Dinalupihan Mayor Gila Garcia and Provincial Health Office (PHO) head Dr. Rosanna Buccahan, among others.
The ongoing expanded testing being done in the province definitely got a boost from the completion of the 1Bataan-BGHMC PCR Lab. Dr. Baltazar said they can now conduct 250 tests per day in two shifts.
“Now, the results will be available in two to three days tops, a far cry from the 2-3 weeks waiting time we used to have back when specimens were hand-delivered at the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) or at the Lung Center of the Philippines.”
Baltazar said, “There are four pathologists and 16 med techs who were trained to operate the PCR machines in the lab. This is on top of the GeneXpert machines that we will also be using primarily for emergency cases.”
The GeneXpert machines, which allows us to obtain PCR results of COVID tests in less than an hour at 95 to 97 percent accuracy, were given to BGHMC by the Department of Health (DOH).
At the same time, Baltazar allayed the fears of the public on the possible contamination that could result from infection in the lab.
“We had to make sure that all the precautionary measures are in place. We cannot risk contamination anymore. We have everything ready now, the negative pressure, the hepa-filter and the bio-safety tools. We have created a strict protocol inside the laboratory to prevent contamination,” she stressed.
Gov. Garcia called the auspicious occasion a “good development” considering the events that transpired in the last three months that left the world reeling from the onslaught of the coronavirus pandemic.
Garcia said, “the launching of our very own 1Bataan-BGHMC PCR Laboratory is indeed welcome news. We have become one of the few local government units (LGUs) with this capability. So now, we can readily identify COVID-19 positive patients, isolate and treat them at once, and conduct an effective contact-tracing system to prevent the spread of the virus and possibly eradicate it in the long run.”
He said that with an efficient system in place, especially now that the economy has partially opened with the more than 20,000 workforce in Bataan returning to work, “we will surely have a better chance of preventing a second wave of this novel pandemic from happening.”
Garcia paid tribute to the heroism of the medical frontliners, particularly from the BGHMC. He said, “no doubt, the trials strengthened them. It was very challenging during the first few weeks of the pandemic, but they remained focused and courageous.They didn’t back down and pressed on to serve. For that, we are truly thankful to them all.”