IN A bid to help unclog the Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC) of patients who needed to be tested for Covid-19, the Davao de Oro Provincial Hospital in Montevista (DDOPH-Montevista) will soon open its own biomolecular laboratory.

In a Facebook post by Davao de Oro Governor Tyron Uy on December 20, 2020, he said once this laboratory opens, the Covid-19 testing for those living in Davao de Oro will soon be expedited.

He added that as of the moment, Covid-19 testing for the residents of the province takes several days before results come out. With this setup, those who were quarantined in the province's facilities experienced extension from the original 14-day quarantine period as they needed to confirm their swab test results before they will be discharged.

"Karon, naga-experience kita’g delays and anaa mga tao na mulampas ug 14 days dira sa ilang quarantine tungod kay nagasalig lamang kita sa SPMC. We know that SPMC is accommodating the entire Mindanao (Currently, we experience delays and there are those who extend their quarantine from the original 14 days because we only rely at the SPMC)," Uy said in the same post.

He said he personally inspected the ongoing preparations of the biomolecular laboratory on Saturday, Dec. 19.

"Gamay na lang and mag-open na ni atong laboratory, (Let's just wait a little while longer and our laboratory will open soon)," he said.

He said the preparation for the laboratory took longer since the machines and other equipment were sourced from abroad.

"We also had to train our people in partnership with the University of the Philippines-Mindanao Genome Center," Uy added, assuring that they are now awaiting a few more machines to arrive, and after accreditation the laboratory "is good to go."

He also said the laboratory will also accommodate other tests, such as bacterial culture and DNA test, aside from Covid-19.

According to Davao de Oro Provincial Health Office, the laboratory will initially cater to 100 tests daily, the current testing demand of the province.

"Hangtod wala’y bakuna (as long as there is no vaccine), we can never take chances. This lab will help us fight Covid-19," he said.