Iloilo City scraps proposed mobile laboratory

By Joseph B.A. Marzan

There will only be one new testing laboratory for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Iloilo City, as clarified by Mayor Jerry Treñas in a press conference on May 19, 2020.

Treñas announced in mid-April that the city government planned to set up a mobile laboratory using container vans to speed up testing for COVID-19.

The mayor had also previously announced that the mobile laboratory will be set up at the Technical Institute of Iloilo City in Molo.

Currently, the Western Visayas Medical Center (WVMC) hosts the only COVID-19 laboratory in the region accredited by the Department of Health (DOH) and the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM).

During the press conference yesterday, Treñas clarified that the laboratory to be built at the site of the old City Agriculturist’s Office is the only one to be developed by the city government.

The mayor said that this due to the advice of city health officials.

“We will not be continuing with the mobile container van laboratory because our doctors decided that we should push for our own laboratory that will be ready to receive specimen,” he said.

The laboratory, as announced on May 18, will also have its dormitory for its medical technologists and other personnel.

Bidding for the laboratory will start in June and is slated to open in July.