UPLB opens Covid-19 testing facility

By Prince Golez

The University of the Philippines campus in Los Baños (UPLB) can now run coronavirus disease (Covid-19) tests after its Covid-19 Molecular Diagnostic Laboratory (CMDL) received accreditation last June 29.

The CMDL, located inside the Agricultural and Life Sciences Complex, will serve the areas of Laguna and neighboring provinces.

Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary Martin Andanar and Philippine Red Cross (PRC) Chairman and Senator Richard Gordon led the inauguration of the laboratory last Friday.

“The laboratory… opens the doors for a technology for early detection, timely treatment, and improved chances of recovery against the dreaded disease,” said Andanar.

He assured that the PCOO, as the lead communications arm of the government, will remain a partner in disseminating public information to support the efforts of the medical and research teams that are working to help stop the disease from spreading.

“We believe in you. We support you. We are one with you. From our desk at the central office to the far reaches of our national and international information network, we carry your crusade with pride, extensively disseminating your data and new discoveries, explaining and encouraging our people to heal as one,” the secretary added.

Gordon, meanwhile, revealed that more Covid-19 laboratories will be inaugurated in Cebu, Bacolod, Zamboanga, and Cagayan de Oro.

“We intend to really go all out,” Gordon said, noting that the PRC is the only Red Cross in the world that helped establish molecular laboratories in a country.

For his part, UP President Danilo Concepcion said the university has always been at the forefront of offering its resources no matter the crisis the country is going through.

“The Covid-19 crisis is unlike anything we have experienced before. And with the possibility of the vaccine still several months away from being developed and made available for everyone, testing suspected Covid-19 patients, as well as isolating and providing the best facilities available here, remain important practices in mitigating the spread of Covid-19 in our country,” Concepcion also said.

The CMDL is a core project of the Task Force Laban ng Bayan Kontra Covid-19 in partnership with the PRC.

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Source: Latest Politics News Today (Politics.com.ph)