BATANG MAYNILA
Mayor Isko Moreno
Hopefully and with God’s grace, before the month’s end, we in the city of Manila will begin operating our second real-time-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) molecular laboratory that would enable us to test for COVID-19 a lot more residents, about a thousand daily.
As of this writing, the various kinds of equipment needed to complete our second laboratory have arrived and we are ready for the slated inspection of the Department of Health (DOH), a requisite before we are finally allowed to operate.
These equipment consist of three bio-safety cabinet class II, two PCR hoods, two Biomedical Refrigerators for reagents, two freezers, and eight computer sets, among others.
Our usual gratitude goes to the DOH, the Department of Budget Management, and of course, to President Rodrigo Roa-Duterte for the fresh assistance given to Manila. Rest assured that none of you will regret having helped the city government as we utilize all contributions to the city to the fullest.
Once our second laboratory is finished, the number of residents who may be swabbed or tested at gold-standard level will be increased at least five-fold on a daily basis, using a Real-Time-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) machine which is the kind being utilized by the national government for confirmatory testing concerning COVID cases.
Our first COVID laboratory was built at the second floor of the Sta. Ana Hospital which also houses the Manila Infectious Disease Control Center (MIDCC) under the stewardship of hospital director Dr. Grace Padilla. It has an output of around 200 to 250 tests a day also using the RT-PCR machine.
The second laboratory, will be situated at the ground floor and is expected to produce an output of 90 tests per hour, or about 1,000 tests per day.
The difference between the two is that the processes that would be involved in the second laboratory will be more tedious. In both laboratories though, the turnaround time or the entire period within which the entire process and results may be known, will not be any different.
In the first laboratory, the entire process consists of getting a specimen, putting it in a cartridge and then inserting the cartridge in the machine for reading.
In the second laboratory, the extraction of the virus will be followed by the virus’undergoing amplification and several more processes before finally being read by the PCR machine.
Last September 6, I was joined by Vice Mayor Honey Lacuna and Secretary to the Mayor Bernie Ang in receiving a donation of two units of Sansure Extraction Machine, a fully-automated nucleic acid extraction system that would enable the city to subject to confirmatory tests a lot more residents on a daily basis.
At this point, allow me to thank the Ayala Foundation and its group of companies for offering to shoulder the costs for the building of the new laboratory, which had been estimated at P7.7 million.
This laboratory is pricey because apart from the various kinds of equipment that have to be installed, even the ventilation or negative pressure has to be regulated in such a way as to ensure that the medical frontliners who will be running it will be protected from infection all the time.
We in the city government, with the help of the national government and even private indivIduals and companies, are doing everything humanly possible to address the problems brought about by the pandemic. We continue to find ways to stem the spread of the disease and intensify efforts to test and treat as many as we can possibly embrace.
I guess it won’t be too much to ask everybody to please strictly follow and observe all prescribed health protocols and heed warnings. All we ever want to do is protect you and for you, in turn, to protect others including your loved ones by keeping safe. Wear a face mask, even face shield, additionally, watch your distance, and wash or sanitize your hands as frequently as possible.
Most of all, do not loiter and only go out when necessary. If you belong to the high-risk age group, you need not be told that you should refrain from staying outside of your home.
Keep in mind that the coronavirus cannot walk around looking for someone to infect. It is latched on a host and it is the host that goes around infecting others. Only by denying this virus a host can we put a stop to it. So please, cooperate. Help us help you.
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Gaya ng paulit-ulit kong sinasabi, kailangan ko ang tulong ninyong lahat. Walang magmamalasakit sa Maynila kundi tayo ding mga Batang Maynila. Manila, God first!***
Maari ninyong malaman ang mga pinakahuling kaganapan sa pamahalaang-lungsod ng Maynila sa pamamagitan ngpagbisita sa aking kaisa-isang lehitimong Facebook account – ‘Isko MorenoDomagoso.’