BALANGA CITY, Aug.16 (PIA) -- A total of 10,152 residents in Bataan were already tested using the Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction machine (RT-PCR) for COVID-19 cumulative since January 31, based on the reports today of the Provincial Health Office.
Of this number, 9,408 residents yielded a negative result. Number of active confirmed cases is at 207 out of the 575 recorded confirmed cases, wherein 353 patients have recovered while 15 died.
Since June, COVID-19 testing in the province intensified after the 1Bataan-Bataan General Hospital and Medical Center RT-PCR Laboratory was launched in Balanga City, which is capable of up to 230 tests a day with a turnaround of one to two days.
The provincial government attributed the sudden surge of confirmed cases to Returning Overseas Filipinos (ROFs) including seafarers, Locally Stranded Individuals (LSIs) and Authorized Persons Outside Residence (APORs), who comprise most of the new cases recorded from the past few weeks.
With this, Governor Albert Raymond Garcia rallied in a consultative meeting with business leaders to do their share in the province’s fight against the pandemic where he shared his vision of a three-hectare COVID-19 Mega Processing Facility.
“We needed to step up to the emerging challenges in our fight against COVID-19. The centralized processing facility that we have set up in Balanga City sadly gets overwhelmed because the number of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) coming home to Bataan increases day by the day,” Garcia stressed.
The four-storey building will have about 300 separate rooms with toilets for quarantine areas, including a reception area, triage area, a kitchen, a huge parking lot and an intricate waste disposal system. It will primarily cater to ROFs, LSIs, and APORs to ensure that they are negative to the disease before returning to their homes.
“The completion of this mega-facility will be the most appropriate measure to address that challenge. It will also ease the burden on our health workers because this facility also promotes centralization of manpower,” Garcia added.
As of yesterday, Bataan registered 491 OFWs who have returned to the province, 432 of them tested negative for COVID-19 while 12 were found positive. About 47 OFWs are currently waiting for results.
The mega-facility, touted to be the biggest COVID-19 processing center in the province, will rise within the 1Bataan Command Center compound in Orani town and is expected to be completed in one to two months. (CLJD/MJSD-PIA 3)
Source: Philippines Information Agency (pia.gov.ph)
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