Public utility vehicle drivers and market vendors will be given priority among Makati City residents who will be screened for pooled swab testing starting Aug. 15.
“We are initially targeting 10,000 individuals, mostly PUV drivers and market vendors who are among the sectors that are most exposed to the virus. Later on, the pooled testing method can be applied to other sectors,” Mayor Abby Binay said in a statement on Thursday.
The mayor on Wednesday signed a memorandum of agreement with the Philippine Children’s Medical Center, the Philippine Center for Entrepreneurship, and the BDO Foundation (BDOF), for the pilot implementation of the pooled RT-PCR (reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction) tests under Project Ark—a private sector-led initiative to make mass testing available nationwide.
Under this method, several swab samples are collected in a pooled sample which is examined. If the pooled sample comes out negative, then it can be deduced that all of the five individuals tested are found negative for the coronavirus. On the other hand, if the batch tests positive, then each of the five will be tested individually.
Resources
According to Binay, the results of the pilot test will be shared with other local government units to help them improve their own COVID-19 response.
“Makati has the means, resources, and more importantly the commitment to go beyond simply treating persons with coronavirus.”
We want to help improve processes and lighten the load of our overburdened healthcare workers,” the mayor said.
‘Accuracy is important’
“We recognize that accuracy and reliability are more important than lower cost and convenience,” Binay also said.
BDOF and the Makati government shared the P5-million cost of the project.
Project Ark said the pooled testing would “reduce the workload of laboratory staff … and make the PCR testing more affordable.”
The city has already tested more than 10,000 individuals using RT-PCR tests. Among the first to be tested were front-liners, city hall employees, and policemen.
Free rides in San Juan, Pasig
The city government of San Juan is providing free bus rides to all medical front-liners working in the city.
Mayor Francis Zamora said buses plying the San Juan City Hall to Cardinal Santos Medical Center route will be available from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m., and vice-versa from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
The bus stops are at Puregold Agora, Aquinas School, Kalentong, and Jollibee Wilson.
Tricycles may also operate in the city as long as they transport only one passenger, Zamora said. In Pasig City, there will be free rides daily from 5 a.m. to 12 noon and 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. The routes will start from Pasig City Hall going to Kenneth, Ligaya via Pasig City General Hospital, and The Medical City via Shaw.