Makati picked as pilot site for coronavirus pooled testing

MANILA, Philippines — Presidential adviser for entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion said on Wednesday that Makati City would pilot pooled testing on 10,000 of its residents this month, focusing on market vendors and drivers of public utility vehicles.

Other local governments in Metro Manila would also follow suit with around 160,000 people targeted for tests under the program funded by Project Ark, a private sector initiative led by Concepcion.

Pooled testing uses the same RT-PCR (reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction) kit, which has been recognized as the gold standard in testing for the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

But instead of allotting one RT-PCR kit per person, a group would share just one. If the test result from a single batch of pooled tests was positive, the members of the group that provided samples would undergo further individual assessment, Project Ark said.

Concepcion called the move “a game-changer for our country,” adding that “it could speed up testing, increase the capacity and make it cheaper. Testing will create greater visibility.”

The data gathered during the tests would then be used as a guide in policy-making, in line with the COVID-19 response of local governments.

In Makati City, the focus of the pooled testing would be public market vendors, drivers of tricycles, jeepneys and pedicabs, and residents of a community near Makati Coliseum, according to Project Ark.

“We are very honored to pilot pooled testing. Until we are able to get a vaccine, we will have to live with the virus,” Mayor Abby Binay said.