14 COVID labs in WV in two to three months

By Emme Rose Santiagudo

Western Visayas is boosting its capacity in diagnosing coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) with 14 operational laboratories in the next two to three months.

“When we look at the applications so far, and if they will be realized, we will have about 14 laboratories running in the next two to three months,” Dr. Marlyn Convocar, regional director of the Department of Health-Center for Health Development Western Visayas (DOH-CHD 6), said during the “Mugstoria Ta” online briefing hosted by the Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas (OPAV) Asec. Anthony Gerard “Jonji” Gonzales on Monday.

There are two operational testing laboratories in the region – the Western Visayas Medical Center Sub National Laboratory (WVMC-SNL) in Mandurriao, Iloilo City and the recently opened Teresita Lopez Jalandoni Provincial Hospital Molecular Laboratory in Silay City, Negros Occidental.

WVMC-SNL, which was the first accredited testing laboratory in the region, has conducted 14,240 tests since late March 2020.

According to Convocar, the WVMC-SNL can process up to 150 to 300 specimens a day with a turnaround time of two to five days.

The Teresita Lopez Jalandoni Provincial Hospital Molecular Laboratory, which started operating on June 2, initially tested 20 samples, according to Convocar.

Convocar said the new testing laboratory in Negros Occidental can help lessen the load of WVMC-SNL which will now cater to specimens in Panay Island.

“Somehow, this could help lessen the load of WVMC para eventually may laboratory na sa Negros and meron ding laboratory dito sa Panay,” she said.

Meanwhile, five more testing laboratories in the region are now on Stage 3 of the accreditation process by the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM).

Convocar said two of these five proposed laboratories are government hospitals – West Visayas State University Medical Center (WVSUMC) in Iloilo City and Corazon Lacson Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital in Bacolod City – while the other three are private hospitals.

Third stage indicates the training of laboratory personnel. It will be followed by Stage 4 or proficiency testing with the help of RITM.

The final stage or Stage 5 signifies that a laboratory is now on full-scale implementation.

Convocar said three more local government units (LGUs) in the region also sought accreditation as sub national laboratories.

They include the Iloilo City government, Roxas Memorial Provincial Hospital in Capiz, and Dr. Rafael Tambukon Memorial Hospital in Aklan.

Private hospitals in the region have also expressed their intent to serve as additional Covid-19 testing laboratory – Doctor’s Hospital in Bacolod, Qualimed, The Medical City Iloilo, and Metro Iloilo Hospital in Iloilo City.

If all proposed laboratories in the region are accredited, Convocar said the region can process up to 7,000 specimens per day at the rate of 500 specimens per laboratory.

Gonzales lauded the initiatives of Region 6 in his online program and emphasized the need to ramp up testing capabilities of the region in order to restart the economy.

“Magandang balita ito for Panay and Rgeion 6 kasi kailangan nating iramp up yung testing especially Panay is the epicenter of tourism din. If we have the testing capability then we might be able to restart our tourism and more than that restart our economy,” he said.