Marikina looking to convert 'super health center' building into COVID-19 testing facility - mayor

Marikina is looking to convert a building of one of its "super health centers" into a COVID-19 testing facility after the Department of Health (DOH) rejected the city's laboratory due to its location, Mayor Marcelino Teodoro said Friday.

Teodoro said he has ordered the city's health officers to find a free-standing structure to house their testing center, which is currently located at the sixth floor of the City Health Office.

"Meron kaming bubuksan na mga super health center dito sa Marikina, and we're trying to convert one of the buildings that we have," the mayor said in an interview over Dobol B sa News TV, adding that they will follow the DOH template.

He said super health centers have floor areas of 1,000 to 2,000 square meters and have complete equipment.

Teodoro claimed on Thursday that the DOH said their testing facility should be put up in a separate building.

On Friday, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the recommendation was to set up a laboratory "in another office with adequate space as it is risky and not safe to set it up on the existing building due to biosafety risks."

Teodoro urged the DOH to treat Marikina as a local government unit (LGU) partner that would complement the DOH's facilities, stressing the urgent need for testing as the country battles the public health crisis.

He said the city had sought help from scientists from the University of the Philippines' National Institute of Health in building their facility, which would provide free COVID-19 testing even to non-Marikina residents.

"Pina-check ho namin to sa RITM (Research Institute for Tropical Medicine), initially sabi nga ng RITM 'ok na 'yan, papasa na siguro 'yan, depende na lang sa final assessment ng DOH,'" Teodoro said.

Marikina City has set up a molecular biology laboratory for the collection of specimens for COVID-19 testing and purchased a P2.7-million Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) machine.

The testing center was scheduled to begin operating last Tuesday, but its launch was deferred by the DOH which said they needed to assess the facility before it could be used.

Teodoro earlier said he had offered the DOH to have the laboratory managed so it could start operating.

The mayor said the city has recorded 13 COVID-19 cases. Two patients have died and three have been discharged from the hospital, he said.

As of Thursday, the DOH has confirmed 707 COVID-19 cases in the country. Of this number, 45 patients have died and 25 have recovered.—AOL, GMA News