Labella urged to lobby for more COVID testing centers in city

CEBU, Philippines —  Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella is asked to request the Department of Health (DOH) in Central Visayas to accredit more hospitals for COVID-19 mass testing.

The City Council, in an approved resolution penned by Vice Mayor Michael Rama, said it is apt to

ask the health agency to expedite the accreditation of more hospitals to boost testing capability.

“By having this mass testing, we will be able to conduct a faster contact tracing, and the faster we will be able to contain the cases,” said Rama.

Quoting the World Health Organization, Rama said “countries must isolate, test, treat and trace to suppress and control the epidemic.”

The National Task Force on COVID-19 sees mass testing for the novel coronavirus disease to start by April 14 in the country’s efforts to curb the spread of COVID-19.

All patients under monitoring and patients under investigation are expected to undergo the test.

In a Philstar.com report, presidential peace adviser Carlito Galvez Jr., who is chief implementer of the National Action Plan on COVID-19, said that there are now nine accredited hospitals that can conduct the tests.

Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center in Cebu City is among the hospitals conducting COVID-19 tests.

Since most of the people are at home, Rama said, the government can now focus on the vital measures, such as mass testing.

“We can focus on this and we will be able to have a good outcome. That is the direction really that I wish the program should be heading,” he said.

He said the City Council has allotted P25 to P30 million budget for the purchase of testing kits.

Cebu City is under an enhanced community quarantine—a measure that includes curfews and the suspension of mass transportation—since March 28. The quarantine is set to lapse on April 28.   KQD (FREEMAN)