DAVAO CITY, Philippines – The Department of Health Davao Region encourages provincial government units to set up Covid-19 testing facilities as Davao de Oro province began construction of their own facility.
On DOH-Davao’s online press briefing, regional assistant director Dr. Lenny Rivera said the construction of the facility in Davao de Oro (formerly Compostela Valley) will add the testing capacity of the region.
Currently, Davao Region has three testing facilities: Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC) and Davao One World Diagnostic Center Inc., both in Davao City, and the Davao Regional Medical Center (DRMC) in Tagum City.
A testing laboratory at Davao City’s Francisco Bangoy International Airport is donated by Unilab, and is expected to start operating next week for passengers coming into the city. Another government-owned testing center, the Los Amigos Health Center, is also under construction. Davao Doctors Hospital is still waiting for its accreditation after complying with requirements and tests.
“We are encouraging all provinces to have testing laboratories and the [DOH] is really willing to provide [them with] technical assistance [for the establishments of the testing facilities],” Rivera said.
The DOH-Davao said the additional centers are urgent as Davao Region continues to record local transmission of Covid-19, saying that it is “premature” to say that the situation in the region is already controlled.
Davao Region recorded 197 cases in May and lesser cases in June with 115. However, Covid-19 cases spiked in July with 377, and added 534 cases in August.
Rivera noted that cases recorded in the first two weeks of September reached 194.
The assistant director said that while Davao Region is not included in the top ten most affected region of Covid-19 cases, she urged the public to continue to comply with the minimum health standards.
“We are actually lessening the number. It means we are somehow implementing the minimum health standard, and hopefully, we will continue that as we continue to open the economy, wherein people are more mobile,” Rivera said. (davaotoday.com)
