Covid-19 test centers outside Luzon pushed

SEN. Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go urged the Department of Health ( DoH) to provide hospitals and designated testing centers in the Visayas and Mindanao with the ability to detect cases of coronavirus disease 2019 ( Covid- 19).

“Parasaatingmgaahensiyang gobyerno,lalonaang DoH, hindinaman paramapangalagaanangkalusugan ngmgaPilipino,lalonasapanahong

itonamay Covid-19 outbreak (For our government agencies, especially the DoH, President Rodrigo Duterte has assured that we have sufficient funds for the protection of the health of the Filipinos, especially at this time that there is a Covid-19 outbreak),” he said.

The senator also wants to help medical institutions cope with the situation by giving personal protective equipment and test kits to select capable centers nationwide.

He added that with the enactment of the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act, the Health department should be able to mobilize resources and manpower immediately.

Under the law, emergency measures in response to the pandemic should include adopting and implementing measures to “suppress further transmission and spread of Covid-19” through education, detection, protection and treatment.

It also requires the DoH to prioritize the allocation and distribution of the necessary goods, supplies and other resources to public health facilities in the regions, provinces or cities that are designated as Covid referral hospitals, private hospitals with existing Covid capacities, and public and private laboratories that can test suspected Covid-positive patients.

Go also stressed the need to capacitate health institutions nationwide even in remote areas.