AT LEAST four testing facilities in Cagayan de Oro are expected to be operational at the end of June, Mayor Oscar Moreno said Monday, May 25.
Apart from the Northern Mindanao Medical Center (NMMC) and the regional office of the Department of Health (DOH), the other two testing facilities will be located at the JR Borja General Hospital and Maria Reyna-Xavier University Hospital.
According to Moreno, the DOH-Northern Mindanao will have two RT-PCR machines in addition to the GeneXpert, which they already have at present.
He added that the GeneXpert will continue to be used for tuberculosis.
"In the case of NMMC, ang GeneXpert nila gi-calibrate para pwede sya sa Covid for three months," Moreno said.
He added that he had given the instruction to purchase two RT-PCR machines for NMMC, one of which the City Government have already ordered.
The machines will arrive in Cagayan de Oro towards the end of June, Moreno added.
Another RT-PCR machine will also be given to the hospital by a private company, which brings the total of Covid-19 testing machines at the NMMC to four.
"That will substantially enhance the ability, not just of NMMC, but the ability of the health system sa Northern Mindanao to do testing nga naay conclusive results," Moreno said.
The mayor also mentioned the Polymedic Hospital's interest to have a testing facility in their branch in Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental.
Moreno said once the testing facilities are operational, this will signal the beginning of the City Health Office's targeted testing project.