A drive-through molecular laboratory for COVID-19 testing in Bacolod City is being proposed, Dr. Chris Sorongon, City Emergency Operations Center deputy for medical data and analysis, said Monday, March 22.
Safeguard DNA Diagnostics presented the proposal to the EOC but no specific details have been provided yet, he added.
The EOC will study the proposal and submit its recommendation to Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonardia, he said.
It is the same firm that will manage the COVID-19 molecular laboratory at the Valladolid District Hospital in Valladolid town, Negros Occidental, that is awaiting Department of Health accreditation, Sorongon said.
Bacolod City currently has five molecular laboratories for COVID-19 testing.
They are at the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital, Philippine Red Cross, the Doctors Hospital Inc., Riverside Medical Center Inc., and the Bacolod Queen of Mercy Hospital.
The mayor has also asked the EOC to look into a drive-through COVID-19 vaccination center, which feasibility is understudy, Sorongon said.
“Everything is in the planning stage and nothing is definite yet,” he said.*