The Manila city government has opened another swab testing laboratory capable of processing 1,000 tests a day.
Manila Mayor Francisco ‘Isko Moreno’ Domagoso led the inauguration of the city’s Sta. Ana Hospital RT-PCR Molecular Laboratory together with officials of the Ayala Group of Companies, which donated P8.5 million for the construction of the laboratory. This is the second RT-PCR lab of the hospital.
“We were trying to ask for a discount for the construction of the Sta. Ana Hospital. When City Engineer Armand Andres reported back to me, he said the Ayala family will provide a discount—about 100%,” Domagoso said as he thanked the Ayala Group for the donation.
“[The City of Manila was able] to achieve flying colors because our doctors, nurses and healthcare workers focused on the infected. We invested in our facilities, doctors, all available sciences, available medicines allowed by the national government through the Department of Health and Food and Drug Administration,” Domagoso said.
According to Moreno, the Sta. Ana Hospital in Manila will be able to process a total of 30,000 tests a month by doing 1,000 swab tests every day.
The city’s Public Information Office said market vendors in the city and residents will be prioritized for the swab testing.
Furthermore, the Manila city government continues to “shoulder all of the costs” because Moreno said that his constituents “deserve better things from the government.”
“If it’s expensive, pera naman ng taumbayan yan. They deserve better things from the government. Your city government, in our own little way, will not stop serving our fellow Manileños,” the Mayor said.
Fernando Zobel de Ayala, chief operating officer of the Ayala Corporation, expresses his support to the local government’s efforts to test, trace and treat coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) patients to end the pandemic.
“We support the national government’s efforts to update our testing, tracing and treatment capabilities. While we’re doing what we can to help at the national level, we also believe that supporting local governments is critical,” Ayala said. RJ Espartinez