Gov. Dennis “Delta” Pineda with Porac Mayor Jaime Capil, Bacolor Mayor Diman Datu, and Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office chief Angelina Blanco at the distribution of the antigen machines and test kits.
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – Gov. Dennis “Delta” Pineda recently distributed P6.10-million worth of Covid-19 antigen test machines and test kits to the cities and municipalities of Pampanga to speed up efforts to contain the virus.
The antigen machines and kits were donated by Belvedere Vista Corp. to contribute to the provincial government’s efforts against the coronavirus disease.
The donation is composed of 23 antigen machines, and 17, 500 test kits. Each city and municipality received one antigen machine and at least 500 to 1,000 kits.
“Diniscuss ko po sa mga municipal and city mayors natin kasama ang mga medtech and nurses nila na gamitin ang mga antigen machines at kits na ito para makatulong sa pag-screen at mabilis na pag-detect ng mga Covid-19 patients natin,” Pineda said.
According to the World Health Organization, antigen test is used to assess whether or not a patient has an active infection.
Antigen test, like the RT-PCR test, also extracts and uses swab samples to screen an individual under surveillance for Covid-19.
The result of the antigen test has a turnaround period of 12 to 15 minutes compared to the RT-PCR test which will take days to be released.
The governor reminded the local chief executives that the result of the antigen test will be subjected to RT-PCR confirmatory test for diagnosing Covid-19 patients.
Healthcare workers of the LGUs have been trained in administering the antigen test. – Luisse Rutao/Pampanga PIO
