DOH did not ask Marikina LGU to construct new building for COVID-19 testing facility, says Vergeire

The Department of Health (DOH) does not require the local government of Marikina to set up a new building for it to get a green light on operating its own coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) testing facility, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said Friday.

"We did not ask Marikina City to have another building. The recommendation was to set up the lab 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," Vergeire said in a message to reporters.

"Amang Rodriguez Medical Center do not have the space for the RT PCR Machine in their existing laboratory, we are finding a location in the hospital with adequate space to set up the lab," she added.

The clarification came after Marikina City Mayor Marcelino Teodoro said that the DOH disapproved of their proposed testing center because of its location which was at the sixth floor of the City Health Office.

“Hindi tayo inaprubahan, hindi tayo pinayagan ng DOH… dapat daw kung meron kang testing facility ay [nasa] nakahiwalay na gusali,” he said.

“Kung gusto raw po naming magkaroon ng testing center, magpatayo kami ng bagong building na paglalagyan ng testing center,” he added.

Meanwhile, in an interview on Dobol B sa News TV, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Alexei Nograles said there is no "red tape" involved when the government thumbed down an application for accreditation of a testing facility.

"When an application is rejected, it's not because of red tape but because of safety procedures," he said.

Nograles said there is no truth to speculations that the national government is making it difficult for local governments to have their testing facilities accredited.

The DOH has earlier said that local government units that intend to set up testing facilities for COVID-19 have to comply with certain biosafety standards to prevent the possible spread of the virus in their community.—AOL/KBK, GMA News