Six medical technologists working in the Western Visayas Medical Center Sub-National Laboratory (WVMC-SNL) were infected with Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).
Dr. Joseph Dean L. Nicolo, hospital chief of WVMC, confirmed in a radio interview that there are now a total of six med techs out of 22 from the hospital who turned positive with the disease.
Of the positive health workers, five are asymptomatic and one is showing symptoms of colds and fever. Contact tracing is still ongoing for close contacts.
Nicolo said that the health workers are now in isolation in the COVID-19 ward and accorded appropriate clinical management. There are eleven med techs on standby ready to replace them so that the laboratory will remain operational after decontamination.
“Our operation is ongoing as we are still accepting specimens, and we assure that those we received yesterday and today will still be processed,” said Nicolo.
The out-patient laboratory services, however, are still not available until further notice as cleaning and disinfection are still ongoing.
