E. Visayas med techs to undergo Covid-19 test training

THE MEDICAL  technologists who will run the proposed coronavirus testing laboratory here will undergo Molecular Analyst Proficiency training next week, the Department of Health (DOH) announced on Friday afternoon.   

DOH 8 (Eastern Visayas) Director Minerva Molon said the special three- to five-day training sessions will be conducted at the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC) in Cebu City.

“We already got the go signal and it was decided that the training be held at Cebu instead of at the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) in Manila. We are still negotiating as to the number of medical technologists we will be sending there,” Molon said.

As for compliance documents, the regional office has already secured and completed its license requirements.

She said they have complied with and corrected the minor deficiencies on the laboratory’s physical setup and equipment based on the findings of the RITM, the World Health Organization, and the DOH central office.

It would take until mid-May for the laboratory to become fully operational due to the quality assurance procedures, including proficiency testing, the fourth stage of the accreditation process, wherein the RITM would send samples here for testing and validation, Molon said.

“If the test results tally perfectly with (that of) the RITM, the laboratory will be granted a full-scale implementation, running tests, and releasing results independently,” she added.

The proposed laboratory, located at the old building of the Eastern Visayas Regional Medical Center (EVRMC) here, can make up to 96 tests per running time using the RT Polymerase Chain Reaction machine, Molon said.

At present, specimens are sent to VSMMC, one of the country’s subnational laboratories.

The DOH thanked all the organizations that offered technical assistance for the establishment of the regional testing center.
They are the EVRMC, Philippine Association of Medical Technologists 8, Philippine Science High School, St. Scholastica’s College, and the An Waray and Tingog party lists.

Since the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, a total of 13 cases have been confirmed in the region, two of whom have fully recovered with zero death. (By Gerico Sabalza)