DOH: PGC laboratories in Visayas, Mindanao may open as early as January 2022

The satellite facilities of the Philippine Genome Center in Visayas and Mindanao may open as early as January 2022, the Department of Health (DOH) said Thursday.

“Siguro mga January o February of next year maguumpisa po tayo sa ating satellite laboratory sa Visayas and Mindanao,” Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said at a media briefing.

(The satellite laboratories in Visayas and Mindanao may become operational by January or February of next year.)

Vergeire said they are only finishing the preparatory activities.

“So ‘yung kanilang mga laboratory personnel have undergone two trainings already. May isa pa yata kailangang training na matatapos bago matapos ang taon,” she said.

(The laboratory personnel have undergone two trainings already. I think they need to finish one more training before the end of the year.)

“Pagkatapos ‘yung equipment nila ay onti-onti nang dumadating so kailangan lang po iayos doon sa kanilang laboratory. Kailangan magkaroon ng pagi-inspect lang,” she added.

(Their equipment has begun arriving, so they need to place it in the laboratories. They also need to inspect the facilities.)

The plan to enhance the capability of satellite laboratories, according to Dr. Eva Maria Cutiongco-de la Paz, executive director of the University of the Philippines-National Institutes of Health, was part of efforts to expand the country's genome sequencing amid the emergence of new coronavirus variants. — VBL, GMA News