By Felipe V. Celino
ROXAS CITY, Capiz – The COVID-19 testing and diagnostic laboratory center here was officially inaugurated Tuesday morning.
The blessing and inauguration of the Roxas City Diagnostic and Laboratory Center at Barangay Milibili was led by Mayor Ronnie Dadivas and city officials.
Also present were Department of Health (DOH-6) regional director Marlyn Convocat and Office of the Civil Defense (OCD) Director Jose Roberto Nuñez.
Dadivas said the blessing and inauguration signals the formal operations of the testing laboratory which has a license to operate from Oct 12 to Dec 31, 2020.
“The Department of Health issued a license to operate to our Roxas City Diagnostic and Laboratory Center. This means that the City of Roxas can now start RT-PCR testing,” the mayor said.
“In these times, this is our primary source of hope to protect our health and prevent the spread of COVID-19 in our community.”
Meanwhile, four Medical Technologists were sent by DOH Regional Office 6 on Oct 14 to augment the personnel of the laboratory testing facility.
The med-techs are Marie Angeline So, Aerrah Venna Celino, Rheda Norba and Jorica Lynn Duronio.
Last two weeks, the Sanggunian Panlungsod of Roxas passed a resolution setting COVID-19 testing fees for the testing facility.
The resolution said that all residents of Roxas City who have been listed in the contact tracing are exempted from the payment. But P4,000 will be paid by those who want to undergo lab testing for personal use.
Roxas City acquired the relocatable containerized reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing laboratory for suspected and probable COVID-19 cases in September 2020.
The equipment was placed at Hurtos Botanicos in Brgy. Milibili where the quarantine facility of the city government is also located. The area also has a staff house for the lab personnel.
Dadivas said the laboratory will help contain COVID-19 while they wait for the first available vaccine.
He added that other local government units (LGUs) in Capiz and nearby provinces could also use the lab.
The DOH and Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) also inspected the laboratory last month.
The assessment checked the readiness of the relocatable containerized laboratory to conduct RT-PCR testing of suspected COVID-19 cases.
The team was headed by Dr. Jose Eugenio Hautea along with Arch. Rene Leonardo and Michelle Casagan of the DOH, Joan Bato and Engr. Archie Reyes from the RITM.
