LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – Benguet Caretaker Congressman and Anti-Crime and Terrorism through Community Involvement and Support (ACT-CIS) Party-list Rep. Eric Go Yap announced that he procured from the national task force on Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) some ten thousand reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test kits for the aggressive expanded testing in the different parts of the province following the surge in the number of cases in some municipalities over the past several weeks.
In a phone interview aired over RPN-DZBS Baguio’s One for the Road program, Yap, who chairs the House Committee on Appropriations, stated test kits from China will be arriving in the country next week and part of the same will be given to Benguet as committed by testing czar Vince Dizon.
However, the lawmaker disclosed that Benguet will still share a portion of the test kits that will be given to the province to Baguio City because he firmly believes that as independent local governments that are adjacent to each other, it still best for the said local governments to share resources to combat the spread of their virus in their respective areas of jurisdiction.
Congressman Yap pointed out that even in the use of the province’s molecular laboratory at the Benguet General Hospital (BeGH), swab tests from the different provinces in the Cordillera will be tested in the said facility when this becomes operational.
According to him, Benguet will continue to share its molecular laboratory and RT-PCR test kits with its neighboring provinces not only in the Cordillera but also in other areas that need the timely release of swab test results.
He revealed that he purchased the required equipment and other necessary materials and supplies for the upcoming operation of the BeGH molecular laboratory which cannot operate yet because of the absence of the required license to operate from the health department.
Earlier, Yap shelled out his personal resources to construct the structure of the molecular laboratory in the BeGH compound and provide the required equipment, materials and supplies hasten the release of swab test results from the different parts of the province and help in decongesting the Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center (BGHMC), the designated sub-national testing center in Northern Luzon.
More importantly, the caretaker congressman allowed the RT-PCR and automated extraction machines he previously purchased to be used by the BGHMC molecular laboratory at the time when the designated sub-national testing center was burdened by the huge volume of swab tests from the different parts of Northern Luzon thus speeding up the processing and release of the test results.
He said that he will continue to make the appropriate representations with the health department to ascertain when the required license to operate for the BeGH molecular laboratory will be released and allow it to operate as Benguet really needs the facility especially with the surge in the number of COVID cases in some municipalities in the province. By HENT
