IMUS CITY, Cavite — The Cavite provincial government and the De La Salle Medical and Health Sciences Institute (DLSM-HSI) has officially been granted the license to operate a coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) testing laboratory, Governor Juanito Victor “Jonvic” Remulla Jr. reported on Saturday.
This means that the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine-Department of Health (RITM-DoH) has certified the DLSM-HSI’s molecular laboratory for use as an independent testing for COVID-19 with its Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) machines. Remulla announced earlier there are three PCR machines available and would add two more for the mass testing.
With the certification, the DLSM-HSI shall continue to participate in the Proficiency Testing Program of the RITM, follow the operational guidelines for COVID-19 Laboratories, and abide by the highest laboratory quality standards.
The certification issued on Friday, May 8, was signed by Dr. Nestor F. Santiago, DoH assistant secretary and RITM-COVID-19 Laboratory Operations Team leader.
The certification was issued after the RITM representatives inspected the facilities of the DLSM-HSI in Dasmariñas City. With the certification, DLSM-HSI’s molecular laboratory becomes the country’s 24th COVID-19 Testing Center and the first in Region IV-A or the Calabarzon (Cavite-Laguna-Batangas-Rizal-Quezon) area.
Remulla said that the Cavite testing laboratory would be shared with the other provinces in Region IV-A particularly in a municipality in Laguna where an outbreak has been reported.
Remulla and the Provincial Health Office (PHO) have been anticipating the laboratory approval to start the COVID-19 mass testing in Cavite, the most populated province in Luzon. (Anthony Giron)