Ample Covid-19 test kits for OFWs, LSIs in CAR

THERE is enough coronavirus disease (Covid19) test kits for overseas Filipino worker (OFW) returnees and locally stranded individuals (LSIs), an official of the Department of Health-Cordillera Administrative Region (DOH-CAR) said on Tuesday.

Dr. Amelita Pangilinan, DOH-CAR regional director, also urged local government units in the region to swab test all returning residents because of the ample supply of the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RTPCR) test kits.

As of June 30, the Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center (BGHMC), the DOH sub-national testing center for north Luzon, has more than 16,000 test kits complete with consumables, which they distribute to the provin

cial governments.

Pangilinan said the majority of the samples processed by BGHMC come from CAR provinces as Regions 1 (Ilocos) and 2 (Cagayan Valley) already have their own molecular testing laboratories.

“The majority of the tests we process come from Cordillera and most of them are coming from Baguio,” she said in a press briefing.

Aside from the testing, returning OFWs and LSIs also undergo 14-day quarantine upon arrival in the region and their municipalities.

The first three cases of Ifugao and Kalinga are OFWs, which came about two months after the first case in the region was recorded in Abra in the first week of March, Pangilinan said.

“Yan ang rason na umakyat ang cases natin sa region kaya hindi tayo nagkakampante (That is the reason there was a surge in cases in the region, that it is why we cannot be complacent),” she said.

Based on data, of the 113 total cases recorded in CAR, 33 belong to the general public, 31 are medical health workers, 19 are uniformed personnel, nine belong to other front-liners, 10 are OFWs, seven are in the vegetable industry and there are two inmates.

Pangilinan said the BGHMC laboratory maintains a 48-hour releasing time for the test results.

Dr. Leamor Fangonilo, head of the public health unit of the BGHMC, said the molecular laboratory has a capacity of 1,200 a day. On June 29, the facility was able to test 1,260.

The processing was boosted after as the facility now has five PCR machines and is using an automated extraction machine courtesy of Benguet Province.

To date, the BGHMC has no backlog in the testing of samples.