The provincial government of Bohol on Monday installed a containerized molecular laboratory within the Bohol Medical Care Institute (BMCI) compound here that is expected to boost its testing capacity for coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).

The mobile laboratory that arrived in this capital city from Manila last Friday will still be set for commissioning before it starts operations, Governor Arthur Yap said.

With its arrival, Bohol is poised to have two reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) laboratories as the Governor Celestino Gallares Memorial Hospital (GCGMH) here is also in the process of preparing its own molecular laboratory.

On July 14, Dr. Mary Jean Loreche, chief pathologist of Department of Health (DOH)-Region 7, announced that the regional office is “helping in the capability building process for the personnel who will man the molecular lab at the GCGMH to boost the Covid-19 testing capacity of the province”.

Loreche also announced that “there will be more functional molecular labs in the outskirts of Central Visayas region”.

The provincial government plans to have two containerized labs and two more stand-alone units to cover areas in range of the eight gateways of Bohol.

The provincial government is set to station containerized PCR labs in strategic spots of Bohol for fast testing on Covid-19.

Once the containerized lab becomes operational, a suspected case’s quarantine period may be shortened from 14 days to just five days.

“We also have to make sure that our equipment is properly interfaced with our contact tracing capacity,” Yap said. (PNA)