(Eagle News)–Marikina City’s laboratory for coronavirus disease 2019 tests did not pass the standards on biosafety and space.
According to Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, the laboratory was, after all, located on the sixth floor of a building, particularly the City Health Office.
He said the DOH would ask for the use of the Amang Rodriguez Memorial Medical Center laboratory, or for another laboratory in a different location.
“Puwede itong modular or prefab infrastructure lamang. Tutulungan po sila ng (Research Institute of Tropical Medicine) kung papaano magpatayo ng isang facility na kasunod sa guidelines for biosafety,” Duque said.
Earlier, Marikina Mayor Marcy Teodoro announced the setup of the lab for COVID-19 tests to help unburden hospitals already swamped with the treatment of COVID-19 patients.
The lab was supposed to be launched on Tuesday, but the DOH said it needed to assess the area first.
