Soldiers to wield new weapons in coronavirus war

MANILA, Philippines—Soldiers will wield new weapons in the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic—computers and bar code scanners.

The government is tapping military manpower for bar code scanning and encoding in newly-established coronavirus testing facilities which officials call “mega” for their sizes and capacity.

Four major testing laboratories were set up in Metro Manila and Bulacan province to ramp up coronavirus testing in the country. Combined, the facilities would be capable of 5,000 tests a day.

On Wednesday (May 6), the government launched its second mega testing facility at the Enderun Colleges in Quezon City.

The rest of the testing facilities are at the Palacio de Manila in Roxas Boulevard, Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City and Philippine Arena in Bulacan province.

Medical staffers from the Department of Health will conduct swab tests, with the support of members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

“We will supply the bar coders and encoders,” said Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, chair of the National Task Force COVID-19.

He said the task could be handled by soldiers because it “didn’t need much expertise, but they will be trained to speed up the process.”

Initially, 64 soldiers have been deployed by the AFP General Headquarters, but Lorenzana said more would be fielded.

“I think we have enough people to come here,” he said.

Soldiers have been enforcing enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) at checkpoints across the country to assist the Philippine National Police. Military medical staffers had also been deployed to quarantine facilities.

The AFP said 27,066 military officers and men are currently performing different functions for the national effort to stop coronavirus transmission.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said he has reached out to other government agencies to provide manpower in mega testing facilities.

Edited by TSB