Cebu testing capacity to be increased to 10,000 daily

CEBU CITY – National Task Force (NTF) coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) Deputy Chief Implementor Secretary Vince Dizon bared that the government was keen on increasing the testing capacity for the viral disease in Cebu to 10,000 tests daily within the next two months.

“The key to prevent another wave of the virus, and to slowly rebuild the economy was to build up our testing capacity for PCR tests,” Dizon said in a recent meeting with Presidential Assistant for the Visayas Mike Dino.

Dizon said that the NTF will be increasing the capacity of the Cebu TB Reference Laboratory Molecular Facility for COVID-19 Testing (CTRL-MFCT) at the Department of Health regional office, and the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center Sub-National Laboratory.

The two laboratories will each get an automated extraction machine that will increase their capacity to 2,000 tests daily and to further ramp up testing capacity in Cebu, two more molecular laboratories will be set up, Dizon bared.

Dizon went on to disclose that a 2,000capacity laboratory will also be set up at the Mactan Cebu International Airport (MCIAA), and another 2,000-capacity modular laboratory donated by United Laboratories, which will be located at the Cebu Doctors Hospital that is expected to be accredited within the next two to three weeks.

Dizon also said that Philippine Red Cross (PRC) Chairman Senator Dick Gordon had promised that the PRC will be setting up another laboratory with a capacity of 4,000 tests daily.

NTF COVID-19 Chief Implementor Carlito Galvez also said his agency was preparing the protocols to prevent the occurrence of the second wave and these include the setting up of one-stop-shop testing centers at the airports and ports.