NOTE: THIS STORY WAS FIRST PUBLISHED IN THE BOHOL CHRONICLE’S SUNDAY PRINT EDITION.
Bohol’s 10 province-run hospitals are now ready for the mass testing preferably of individuals having an influenza-like illness (ILI) with co-morbid conditions.
Test kits are already at the hospitals for use anytime that the hospital chiefs or municipal health officers within the service clusters of towns have the symptomatic individuals examined.
Extracting and testing swab samples will be done by trained medical technologists, who submit them to the Provincial Health Office (PHO) for processing, said Dr. Cesar Tomas Lopez, assistant PHO chief and COVID-19 Technical Working Group (TWG) spokesperson.
The PHO operates 24 hours daily so that swab sample testing is processed fast.
Lopez said initial 200 kits at 20 per hospital have been provided and the rate of use will be observed as testing first starts with the symptomatic having co-morbid conditions.
These persons for testing have cough, colds and fever or influenza-like illness with co-morbidity conditions like diabetes, high blood pressure, hypertension, heart ailment, and asthma, among others.
Lopez also confirmed the delivery of personal protection equipment (PPEs) to the last two hospitals to receive which were the JagnandCandijay hospitals.
PPEs were earlier delivered to the eight other province-run hospitals in Maribojoc, Loon, Clarin, Inabanga, Talibon, Pres. Garcia an island-town, Carmen and Catigbian.
The PPEs will be also used by the medical technologists in the community testing in the towns.
Gov. Arthur Yap declared aggressive prevention as more than the order of the day since Bohol as still being COVID-19-free should never be a reason to be complacent.
Rep. Edgar Chatto believed the mass testing can for now at least help validate that the province stays free from the highly-infectious disease.
The number of tested individuals can represent a degree of the prevailing condition of the population of the province amidst the COVID-19 scare, the solon said.
According to Lopez, initial community testing for 18 individuals had been done and all tested negative. (VenreboArigo)