THE Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center (BGHMC) increased the number of tests for possible coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases after being identified by the Department of Health (DOH) as one of the sub-national hospitals for laboratory testing.
Doctor Ricardo Ruñez, BGHMC chief explained the health facility now processes around 80 Covid-19 tests from the initial 40 tests prior to the arrival of 5,000 test kits.
“With the arrival of the additional test kits, we can now release in real time the initial laboratory test results of patients to know their condition and what appropriate health measure should be applied to the patient,” Runez said.
Doctor Amelita Pangilinan, DOH - Cordillera regional director earlier said limitations of the test given by BGH is the screening and the first confirmatory test which will be submitted to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) for the final confirmatory test.
The result of a final confirmatory test at present takes a couple of days due to the influx of other laboratory specimens coming from other parts of the country being sent to RITM for final confirmation.
Comparing to initial stages of Covid–19 cases January this year where final confirmatory tests are sent back to BGHMC from two to three days, at present, the results would take at least five days.
The delay on final test results are attributed by DOH-CAR to the influx of specimen samples coming from all over the country aside from those coming from Metro Manila being sent to RITM.