(Photo courtesy of Southern Philippines Medical Center Facebook page)
The facility, which is capable of real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing, was donated by the Metrobank Foundation (MBFI) and George Ty Foundation and constructed by the Ateneo de Davao University (AdDU).
The facility is also capable of running 200 samples a day with a result turn-around time of three operating days.
“With this lab, we hope to quadruple the current testing capacity of the SPMC, especially as the burden caused by COVID-19 has been felt most acutely by those in the margins of society,” said City Mayor Sara Duterte in a statement read by Assistant City Health Officer Dr. Marjorie Culas.
January 07, 2021 DESPITE not experiencing a spike of Covid-19 cases in Davao City after Christmas, a local health official warned of a possible post-New Year case surge that might last until mid-February this year.
Davao City Covid-19 focal person Dr. Ashley Lopez said in a virtual presser that based on the recent Covid-19 case statistics, the anticipated post-Christmas surge was not felt according to the recorded new cases almost two weeks ago.
Based on his analysis, the worried overspilling of cases, which was expected between December 24 and 25, 2020, would have already been felt in the first week of January 2021, although on January 4, the city recorded 104 new cases, the highest during the two-week period, based to the Department of Health (DOH) report.
Published January 3, 2021, 9:25 AM
DAVAO CITY – The families of patients, who died of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at the Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC), have been told to immediately facilitate the cremation of their relatives’ remains to free up space at the hospital’s mortuary.
Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC) (Photo courtesy of SPMC’s Facebook page / File photo / MANILA BULLETIN)
SPMC Officer-in-Charge Ricardo Audan said disclosed to The Manila Bulletin that the remains of at least nine COVID-19 victims have yet to be claimed from the hospital mortuary and cremated as of Saturday, January 2.
Audan pointed out that the many of the COVID-19 fatalities have remained unclaimed because many of their relatives, themselves, have been infected with the coronavirus.
SunStar
Photo credit to Nabunturan LGU
+ December 31, 2020 EIGHT individuals were injured when a passenger bus overturned after it slid on a slippery road and crashed sidewards on Wednesday, December 30, 2020, in Barangay Mipangi, Nabunturan in Davao de Oro.
In a report posted by the Nabunturan local government unit (LGU), the vehicular accident involving a public utility bus (PUB) happened around 4 p.m. at Km. 80 in Purok 1, in Mipangi.
The LGU reported that all eight individuals who obtained minor injuries were immediately brought to hospitals and were later discharged.
While all other passengers received first aid and were also cleared, it was not clear how many passengers were on board during the accident.
SunStar
SunStar File December 30, 2020 DAVAO City health officials are alarmed by the rising number of unclaimed cadavers of Covid-19 patients in the Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC).
SPMC officer-in-charge Dr. Ricardo Audan revealed in a radio interview on Tuesday, December 29, that these cadavers pile up in the hospital s morgue.
Audan said SPMC has six unclaimed cadavers, all from Davao City. But he said the number may increase as daily deaths are recorded.
The hospital official said relatives must claim the body of their dead family member as their morgue has a limited capacity.
Despite constant follow-up, Audan said some families are not cooperative in claiming their family member s remains.