In the heels of a clustering of COVID -19 cases in a local supermarket involving store hands, Baguio City will conduct aggressive testing for around 5000-grocery and supermarket personnel in the coming weeks.
Baguio City Mayor Benjamin B. Magalong emphasized that the test shall be shouldered by the employers and should not be deducted from the salary of the employee. This is pursuant to a Department of Labor and Employment Memorandum Circular requiring employers to spend for the testing of their workers.
He said, with the aggressive testing that comes with the steady influx of test kits, the city expects to have a clearer picture of the extent of the medical emergency.
He bared, Baguio is one of the few local government units able to test a great number of people, reason why more cases are unraveled in recent weeks. City data shows, recent cases are mostly local transmissions.
City managers have met with grocery and supermarket owners who agreed to sponsor the testing of their respective personnel.
The Mayor explained that they will administer an antigen, a new testing technology able to yield accurate results within 15-minutes.”
City Administrator Bonifacio I. De La Peña, for his part, bolstered the Mayor’s statement adding the Department of Trade and Industry mandated the testing of grocery and supermarket personnel.
He warned, “Using a positivity rate of 11-percent, an estimated 600 of those tested may turn up positive for covid-19.”
In preparation for the expected increase, Dela Pena said the city is preparing at least 300 beds at the Teachers Camp and Sto. Niño isolation centers.
Earlier, the mayor ordered targeted “mass testing” of those whose jobs naturally exposes them to indeterminable number of folks.
Good news
The City registers highest recovery yesterday with 14 Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) recoveries that boosted the total number of healed patients to 146 out of the 259 confirmed patients.
Meanwhile four new COVID-19 cases were recorded including one death, a 93-year old female who had prior illnesses, at present the city’s active cases had been reduced to 105. (Joe Manzano/ Gaby Keith)