Private sector-led mass testing initiative Project Ark has screened a total of 4,150 individuals in the cities of Las Piñas, Makati and Taguig as part of its effort to offer community-level visibility of coronavirus disease infection rates.
In Las Piñas, three out of 1,480 individuals were found positive using rapid antibody tests. In Makati, only one tested positive out of 1,208 while in Taguig City, there were four positive cases out of 1,462.
Confirmatory tests
The results were subsequently confirmed through confirmatory polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing done in hospital facilities.Project Ark initiator, presidential adviser for entrepreneurship and Go Negosyo founder Joey Concepcion, said that by using rapid tests and RT-PCR testing, local government units would “gain greater visibility” of the COVID-19 infection and help them formulate strategies. He said the economy would only recover in the last two quarters if the level of COVID-19 infections was contained.
“If we are not able to contain the health situation, then the economy will suffer. We have to be vigilant. It is not just the lives of people we need to save but also the people’s jobs and livelihoods of micro, small and medium enterprises,” he said. INQ