MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Leni Robredo on Tuesday led the rollout of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) Swab Cab, a mobile COVID-19 testing center, in Marikina City.
These swab cabs are currently stationed at the Concepcion Integrated School in Marikina City where an ambulance is also on standby.
“Kung nakikita n’yo po tatlong swab cab ang nandito, tapos sa dulo po may ambulansya.” Vice President Leni Robredo said in a live video on Facebook.
(There are three swab cabs here, then an ambulance at the end.)
“Kasi ‘yung protocol po natin, pag may nag-positive, diretso na sa quarantine. Ihahatid ng ambulansya,” she added.
(Because our protocol dictates that once someone tests positive, they are immediately taken to an isolation center by the ambulance.)
Once someone tests positive, contract tracing will also immediately begin, according to Robredo.
A stationary testing site was also placed in one of the school’s classrooms.
“Just in case mag-overflow and para hindi magsiksikan (so it won’t get crowded),” Robredo said.
The Vice President said she first met with Marikina Mayor Marcelino Teodoro and Rep. Stella Quimbo to discuss their collaboration on her office’s community testing project.
She added that they signed a memorandum of agreement for their partnership in the Swab Cab initiative.
Robredo explained that it is the city government that did the groundwork by finding volunteers who will administer the swab tests, and those at-risk people to be tested, and providing an isolation facility for those who will test positive.
Incentives were also given to those who will take a swab test in the OVP’s swab cab, such as rice and hygiene kits, while those who tested positive were given food supply enough for two weeks and a COVID-19 care kit.
She added that those who tested positive will also be monitored daily after they are taken to the isolation center.
Marikina is the latest destination of the OVP swab cab after its first rollout in Malabon, Quezon City, and Imus, Cavite.
The mobile COVID-19 testing facility aims to support the mass testing capacity of local government units with high transmission and infection rates.
The Department of Health reported Monday that the total confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country now stood at 1,108,826, including 59,897 active cases, 1,030,367 recoveries, and 18,562 fatalities.
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