Manila gov’t building COVID-19 testing laboratory in Sta. Ana Hospital
Published May 16, 2020 11:30:04 PM
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 16) — The Manila City government is setting up its own COVID-19 testing laboratory to help trace cases in the coming months, Mayor Francisco “Isko” Moreno said on Saturday.
“Habang tayo ay nakikipagpartner sa national government, sa mga private sectors, medical institution, tayo rin magtatayo ng sarili nating testing laboratory na ilalagak natin sa Sta. Ana Hospital,” he said in a video situation report.
[Translation: As we work with the national government, private sector, medical institutions, we are also going to put up our own testing laboratory which we will place in Sta. Ana Hospital.]
Moreno added that they have already begun building the room for the laboratory, which will also have polymerase chain reaction machines that can detect the coronavirus.
“Para mapataas natin ‘yung confirmation ability through testing via PCR machine na kung siya ay positive o hindi, kaya po magkakaroon tayo nito. Ginagarantihan ko sainyo,” he addressed the residents.
[Translation: We will have this so we can increase our confirmation ability to check if someone is COVID-19 positive or not through a PCR machine. I guarantee you this.]
The country currently has 30 laboratories that can test for COVID-19, and at least five are located in health facilities in Manila.
Moreno said 24,832 residents have been tested for COVID-19 using antibody rapid test kits, while 5,785 have taken the PCR-based tests. Some 45,000 rapid tests kits remain, he added.
The PCR-based tests are what health officials call the “gold standard” for confirming if a patient has the coronavirus or not while the antibody tests can still yield false negative results since it only checks the antibodies that fight the virus.
Manila recorded 997 confirmed cases of COVID-19, wherein 163 have been cured, registering a 16.35 percent recovery rate, while 89 have died, bringing the fatality rate to 8.9 percent.
Tondo District 1 had the most infections with 249 cases, Moreno reported, followed by Sampaloc with 169 cases. It can be recalled that the local government earlier placed both districts on a temporary lockdown due to the surge of infections.
Moreno said most of the city’s cases were from the 18-39 years old age group which he surmised was due to their frequent exposure to the virus while outside their homes.
“Ang konklusyon, ‘yung ating mga lolo’t lola, nanay at tatay mas behave sila sa loob ng bahay… sa pagkat ang mga nabigyan ng (enhanced community quarantine) pass… ay ‘yung mga edad na 18 hanggang 39,” he said. “Sila ang lumalabas ng bahay.”
[Translation: The conclusion is, our elderly grandparents and parents are more behaved inside the homes, since those ages 18 to 39 were given the enhanced community quarantine passes. They are the ones who leave the house.]
The mayor said they expect more cases to pop up as the quarantine measures ease and testing ramps up. Manila is now under modified enhanced community quarantine, meaning several sectors will be returning to work.
The COVID-19 national tally is now at 12,305 with 2,561 recoveries and 817 fatalities.
