(File photo)
DAVAO CITY – Two more swab sites are opened here to hasten the coronavirus testing and to improve the turnaround time of RT-PCR test results.
Dr. Ashley Lopez, City Health Office acting head, said in a radio interview Tuesday the swabbing centers are located in Barangay Ilang-Tibungco and Shanghai Gym in Matina Aplaya and are expected to improve the city's testing capacity by 1,000.
It will open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays to Saturdays and will cater to at least 500 persons with first-generation (F1) contacts and those with influenza-like illnesses (ILIs) as target clients.
“The city government partners with a private laboratory to ensure short turnaround time of 24 to 48 hours of tests among F1 and ILIs,” he said.
Lopez added that surveillance swabbing of other specimens other than the F1 and ILIs would be processed at the Southern Philippine Medical Center (SPMC) Molecular Laboratory.
Apart from the SPMC, the Davao International Airport molecular laboratory can also process 90 specimens per day while the new Los Amigos Davao Laboratory can cater to at least 50 specimens daily.
“One World Diagnostics Center will provide swabbers in the new swabbing centers for the testing of close contacts and ILIs,” he said.
The swabbing sites at the Sta. Ana Health Center, Magsaysay Park and Crocodile Park are still operational. (PNA)
