(Joint reports from DCR, DSA, GAB)
The provincial government is planning to build another polymerase chain reaction (PCR) laboratory for Covid infection testing based in the Bohol Medical Care Institute (BMCI) located in Barangay Dao, Tagbilaran City.
As this developed, the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) approved a resolution last Thursday, June 23, 2020, throwing support to the provincial government’s plan to build another laboratory for Covid infection testing.
A molecular laboratory inside Gov. Celestino Gallares Memorial Hospital (GCGMH) is expected to be operational by the middle of July 2020, GCGMH chief of hospital Dr. Mutya Kismet Macuno revealed.
The provincial government also procured a mobile, containerized PCR laboratory, which is expected to be operational by July 2020, Gov. Arthur Yap said.
It was learned that Yap wrote to the SP endorsing the letter from the Provincial Engineering Office asking the provincial board to pass a resolution to build another Covid infection testing laboratory in the province.
The resolution supports the provincial government in its bid to secure accreditation and license to operate the laboratory from relevant national government agencies such as the Department of Health (DoH).
According to the governor in his letter to the SP, the plan for a Covid testing lab is to boost Bohol’s testing capabilities and to depend less on Cebu for the testing needs.