4 out of 5,465 trike drivers in Marikina are coronavirus-positive, says mayor

Marikina Mayor Marcelino Teodoro. Photo from Marikina PIO Facebook

MANILA, Philippines — Marikina City Mayor Marcelino Teodoro on Thursday said that out of the city’s 5,465 tricycle drivers, only four tested positive for the latest strain of coronavirus.

In a statement, Teodoro said that the tricycle drivers tested positive after they underwent confirmatory PCR testing under the local government’s mass testing program.

The Marikina mayor added that out of the 4,312 workers who are part of the shoe industry, only one tested positive for the coronavirus.

Meanwhile, of the 1,997 city hall employees that underwent testing, six health workers— one doctor and five sanitation workers — also tested positive.

Also, out of the 951 barangay employees, including barangay tanods and barangay health workers, only one was found to be infected with the novel coronavirus.

Those who tested positive were immediately brought to a quarantine facility and were given supportive treatment, Teodoro said.

“Through mass testing, we are able to establish a data base to act on public health protocols and necessary interventions to avoid community transmission,” the mayor added.

While Teodoro said that Marikina City continues to have a “very low number” of COVID-19 cases, with 188 to be exact as of the city’s latest tally, he then worried that the numbers may go up should the National Capital Region shift to more relaxed quarantine measures.

According to Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año, the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases has recommended to place Metro Manila, known to be the national epicenter of COVID-19 outbreaks, under general community quarantine (GCQ).

READ: Año: IATF recommends GCQ for Metro Manila with localized lockdowns on June 1

“Ang worry ko lang isa kapag nag-open na ang boundaries ng Marikina ay baka mag-spike ang number of cases,” he said. “Kasi, based on our observation, those who test positive have interaction outside Marikina or living near the border of the city.”

(My worry is that if Marikina’s boundaries open, there will be a spike in the number of cases. Because based on our observation, those who tested positive had interaction with others outside Marikina or are living near the border of the city.)

As of Thursday, the Philippines has 15,588 COVID-19 cases, with 3,598 recoveries while 921 have died.

READ: DOH records 539 COVID-19 cases; highest spike in a day

Of the same number, the Department of Health said that it recorded 539 new cases on Thursday, where 61 percent of the number, or 330 cases, where from Metro Manila.