The Governor Celestino Gallares Memorial Hospital (GCGMH) has started operations of its molecular laboratory for COVID-19 testing amid the growing number of community-transmitted cases in the province.

The lab which is built inside the GCGMH, Bohol’s only COVID-19 referral hospital, is the first facility capable of conducting polymerase chain reaction testing and is expected to expedite the release of results of samples taken from locals which were previously sent to Cebu City.

GCGMH medical chief Dr. Mutya Macuno on Monday said that the lab had its soft opening as requested by Governor Arthur Yap ahead of its “grand opening” on Friday.

“Nihanyo g’yud si governor na ato ng sugdan dayon labina kay duna na pud tay duha ka bag-ong local transmissions,” said Macuno.

According to Macuno, the laboratory passed its proficiency test overseen by the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine based on results relayed on Saturday last week.

The Department of Health, following the development, gave authority to the GCGMH to start operations of its new lab.

“We got an email from the RITM na perfect ang atong score, 100 percent,” she said. “Officially, we can really start conducting the test,” she said.

Macuno acknowledged the efforts of her team including health workers who were sent to virus-hit Cebu to undergo training in manning the molecular lab.

Two of those medical frontliners contracted the disease while undergoing training in May but have both recovered and able to return to Bohol.

“Dagko g’yud kaayo tawn og sakripisyo kay tiaw ba gud na kadtong atong gipadala og training, nagstay sila didto og quarantine og two weeks, diri pud, so nibunga na ang atong mga pagpaningkamot,” she said.

The province of Bohol, as of Monday, has 90 confirmed cases.

Although most of the cases are locally stranded individuals believed to have contracted the disease outside the province, the number of community-transmitted cases have also been on the rise in the past two weeks. (AD)