A coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) testing laboratory is set to rise at the Davao de Oro Provincial Hospital-Montevista (DdOPH), the provincial government said Tuesday.
In a statement, the provincial government said it has partnered with the Philippine Genome Center (PGC) of the University of the Philippines (UP)-Mindanao, and the Department of Science and Technology in Davao Region (DOST-11), for the establishment of the testing facility.
Under the memorandum of agreement (MOA) signed by the parties involved in the project on Monday, the partners committed to provide biosafety and molecular diagnostics training for its future facility personnel.
Governor Jayvee Tyron Uy said the facility will be funded by the national government’s “Bayanihan” grant and is set to operate in August.
“We need to have our own [testing laboratory] as a weapon to fight this unseen enemy because we cannot see them unless we test them,” he said.
Dr. Larry Digal, chancellor of UP-Mindanao, thanked the project partners, adding he hopes “this will be the beginning of a partnership that we’re going to strengthen further.”
As of Tuesday, the province has a total of 11 Covid- 19 cases, eight of which are active, and three have already recovered.
There are only two accredited Covid-19 testing laboratories in Mindanao-Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC) here and Davao Regional Medical Center (DRMC) in Tagum City. (PNA)
