Gov. Celestino Gallares Memorial Hospital (GCGMH) chief of hospital Dr. Mutya Kismet Macuno says two key polymerase chain reaction (PCR) laboratory equipment are expected to arrive in thr country on June 19, 2020.
In a report on Wednesday, June 10, 2020, Macuno said the arrival of the two key pieces of equipment was expected on the first week of June 2020. Macuno said she was informed that the pieces of equipment are already in transit.
Moreover, she said that once the pieces of equipment arrive in the country from China, she will coordinate with Gov. Arthur Yap for assistance to coordinate with the Bureau of Customs (BOC).
The chief of hospital of GCGMH said that once the pieces of equipment are installed it may take three weeks for the molecular laboratory located inside the hospital to be operational.
Related to this, Macuno said the trained medical technologists sent to Cebu who will be operating the molecular PCR lab will be ending their quarantine this coming Sunday, June 14, 2020.
Moreover, Macuno said the documentation of the hospital related to the license to operate the molecular laboratory is complete and soon will be submitted to the Department of Health, probably using virtual communications.
At this point, Macuno is saying the laboratory may start operating anytime in July 2020. It was previously reported, Macuno said, that the molecular lab is eyed to be operational within June 2020.
Furthermore, she said the molecular laboratory has an initial capacity of about 600 tests in 15 hours.
Currently, Bohol has a PCR machine that was given by the Inter Agency Task Force (IATF).
Several days ago, IATF chief implementor Sec. Carlito Galvez visited Bohol and turned over the said PCR machine. The PCR machine in the possession of the province will be stationed at the GCGMH.