Marikina Mayor Marcelino Teodoro on Monday urged the Department of Health (DOH) to allow his city to use its COVID-19 testing center at the soonest possible time to combat the spread of the disease.

Teodoro stressed that Marikina should not be treated like an applicant who was seeking a license to operate a laboratory.

“It should be a partnership. This is a whole-of-government approach kung saan nagtutulong-tulong ang lokal at national. Kung ano ang kakulangan sa national ay pinupunan ng mga lokal na pamahalaan,” he said in a statement.

“We should make these test kits commercially available for all. We should be able to ensure that testing is ‘democratized’... lalo do’n sa mga mahihirap na hindi kaya magpatingin sa mga pribadong ospital.”

Teodoro added that their laboratory would not only benefit residents of Marikina but neighboring cities as well.

"Rizal, nearby cities puwede. We are targeting 3-4 additional cities magbebenefit dito sa Marikina Testing Center,” he explained.

The mayor announced last week that Marikina would begin COVID-19 testing on Tuesday after the local government procured test kits and a Polymerase Chain Reaction machine.

ADVERTISEMENT

However, the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases reminded local governments on Sunday that they must first get DOH approval before acquiring test kits, following Marikina’s announcement that it will launch a testing center.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire earlier said the DOH would meet Marikina officials on Monday to certify the local government’s molecular biology laboratory.

The online tracker of the DOH shows that six positive COVID-19 patients are from Marikina.

Nationwide, a total of 462 COVID-19 cases have been recorded with 33 deaths and 18 recoveries. — DVM, GMA News