The Teresita L. Jalandoni Provincial Hospital molecular laboratory in Silay City tested 227,621 samples for COVID-19 in the first year of its operation, Dr. Mary Ann Maestral, TLJPH chief, said Wednesday, June 2.
Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson, at the TLJPH laboratory anniversary rites Tuesday, said with its establishment Negros Occidental became among the first local government units (LGUs) to have its very own molecular laboratory.
It is the first molecular laboratory in Negros Occidental, and the first owned by an LGU in Western Visayas.
Lacson said before the creation of the TLJPH laboratory Negros Occidental had to rely on the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine in Muntinlupa City and the Western Visayas Medical Center in Iloilo City for COVID-19 test results.
The TLJPH has enabled the province to test, isolate and treat COVID positive Negrenses, including incoming travelers, on time, he said.
Maestral said of the 227,621 samples tested from June 2020 to May 31, 2021, there were 14,911 that yielded positive results.
There was a 6.55 percent positivity rate, she said.*