MOLECULAR LABORATORY. Negros Oriental Gov. Roel Degamo gives a thumbs-up sign during the launching of the first molecular diagnostic laboratory in the province on Wednesday (Oct. 28, 2020). The facility, costing some PHP38 million, will be using donated RT-PCR testing machines worth P12 million and other equipment from the Energy Development Corporation. (Photo courtesy of Capitol PIO)
DUMAGUETE CITY – Negros Oriental Gov. Roel Degamo on Wednesday called on provincial and municipal officials to work together in fighting the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) and stem its transmission in the province as cases continue to rise in the past days.
Degamo issued his appeal during the official inauguration of the PHP38-million molecular diagnostic laboratory of the Negros Oriental Provincial Hospital (NOPH) here.
“I am extending my hands for unity. Let us all unite in fighting this pandemic. Dili pwedeng magka-bulag bulag ang mga opisyal sa pag-address niining problemaha (Officials cannot be divided in addressing this problem),” he said.
The governor said even the Sangguniang Panlalawigan was quite "hesitant before" when he proposed the purchase of a molecular laboratory testing machine.
He said the money was supposed to be drawn from the PHP98-million Bayanihan grant that President Rodrigo Duterte gave to the province.
While the Sangguniang Panlalawigan did not initially agree to the plan back then, he said the province was blessed because the Energy Development Corporation (EDC) donated a Covid-19 testing machine.
“God truly provides when we are serious in asking what we need from Him,” he said in dialect, as he thanked the power firm that operates a 222.5-MW geothermal facility in Valencia, Negros Oriental.
EDC last month turned over two units of reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) machines and other equipment amounting to some PHP8-million, with additional donations in the succeeding weeks, with the total cost reaching PHP12 million.
The counterpart of the provincial government is pegged at PHP20 million from the Bayanihan grant, Degamo said.
Back in January, when the first two Covid-19 cases in the Philippines, a Chinese couple, were reported to have visited Negros Oriental, the province scrambled to locate as many people for testing, Degamo said.
The idea to put up a diagnostic laboratory here was hatched after it took a very long time for the results to return, as the specimens were sent to Manila back then, and the possibility of a community transmission was not far-fetched, he said.
The molecular diagnostic laboratory, once it receives the license to operate from the Department of Health, would be able to run 150 tests a day at the minimum, he said.
“I am now appealing and I am now extending my hands to all the congressmen, to all the officials, mayors, that we will unite and we will heal as one,” because this is the best approach to fighting the Covid-19, Degamo said.
The total Covid-19 tally in the province is now 264, with 62 active cases, 196 recoveries, and six deaths. (PNA)
