TARLAC CITY — The provincial government and the Philippine Red Cross collaborated in the conduct of mass testing of probable cases of coronavirus disease in Tarlac starting April 27.
Under the memorandum of agreement signed by Gov.Susan Yap and PRC secretary-general and Senator Richard Gordon, specimens will be submitted to the PRC’s testing center located at their main office in Mandaluyong, with the result of swab tests to be available in 48-120 hours sent back to the Tarlac Capitol.
Some P5 million was deposited to cover the swab testing of 1,428 Tarlaqueños. A single test costs PhP3,500.
In a statement, Yap underscored the need for mass testing to effectively mitigate the spread of Covid-19even as she assured her constituents: “We will strictly comply with the requirements of the Data Privacy Act of 2012 to protect our people who will be tested positive.”
First priority for the provincial mass testing include health workers of the government and private hospitals [220 test kits]; health workers in the community with positive cases [140 test kits]; barangay health workers in the community with positive cases [84 test kits]; and expatriates and overseas Filipinos workers [31 test kits].
Also among the priorities are Provincial Health Office personnel, Philippine National Police swabbers, and Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council personnel [50 kits]; and cluster survey [175 test kits].
The second priority will consist of contacts of positive cases in the first priority; suspects with flu-like symptoms in the community; immediate contacts [family] of positive cases; and PNP personnel at the frontlines. — Trixie Joy B. Manalili/PIA–3
