DTI to companies: Inform LGUs before testing an employee for COVID-19

Trade and Industry Secretary Ramon Lopez. (File photo by YANCY LIM / Presidential Photographers Division)

MANILA, Philippines — Companies should inform their concerned local government units (LGUs) if they will subject an employee to a COVID-19 test, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said Tuesday.

This way, DTI Secretary Ramon Lopez said, close contacts of workers can immediately be traced should they test positive for the virus.

“Isang mandatory na sinama natin doon, kung magpapatest ang isang symptomatic, bago pa magpatest, importante po yung magcoordinate agad yung company doon sa LGUs concerned, whether at the barangay level, para po mamonitor agad,” Lopez said in an interview over Teleradyo.

(One mandatory thing that we added in the protocols was that if a symptomatic worker will be tested, it is important for the company to coordinate this with the LGUs concerned in order to monitor them immediately.)

“Ganun din sa resulta, kailangan naka-coordinate na. Importante po yun para nasa talaan agad ng DOH [Department of Health]. Kung positive naman yung individual ay makapagumpisa kaagad noong contact tracing,” he added.

(It’s the same for the result, it has to be coordinated. This is important so that it will be added to DOH’s tally. If the individual is positive, the contact tracing can already begin.)

The DTI along with the Department of Labor and Employment issued new work protocols aimed at reducing the risk of transmission inside a workplace.

Large- and medium-sized private companies are urged to offer shuttle services and establish isolation facilities for their employees with COVID-19 symptoms.

The protocol that only symptomatic workers be tested for COVID-19 remain.

JPV