The Swab Cab initiative of the Office of the Vice President. Photo from OVP
MANILA, Philippines — The Swab Cab initiative of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) once again rolled in the communities of Malabon City on Tuesday in a bid to test more people, detect those who need care, and arrest increasing COVID-19 infections.
On its second day of testing, OVP said it focused on barangays identified by the local government as areas with high transmission rates.
“Vice President Leni Robredo’s office started the second day of its Swab Cab initiative in the city of Malabon on Tuesday, April 6, 2021, as a continuation of the OVP’s ongoing efforts to test more Filipinos amidst the surge of COVID-19 cases in the country,” it said in a statement.
“The Swab Cab targets to test residents today in barangays identified by the local government of Malabon, including the barangays of Longos, Potrero, Tinajeros, Tugatog, Acacia, Niugan, and Flores,” it added.
People observe social distancing as they wait for their turn to be tested at the Office of the Vice President’s Swab Cab on Tuesday, April 6, 2021. Photo from OVP
OVP’s Swab Cab initiative — which brings COVID-19 testing to communities through the use of buses that were converted into mobile testing sites — started on March 30 in Malabon City.
The program, done with OVP’s private sector partners, is meant to augment the government’s testing capacity as the country faces an upsurge of COVID-19 cases due to new SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern.
A person gets swabbed at the Office of the Vice President’s Swab Cab on Tuesday, April 6, 2021. Photo from OVP
The Department of Health (DOH) reported Tuesday that it recorded 382 deaths – an all-time high increase in a single-day count, which propelled the COVID-19 death toll to 13,817. It, however, quickly clarified that the big hike was due to errors in the COVID-19 database as the number included patients who died before April.
Total confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country now stand at 812,760, including 152,562 active cases.