A number of soldiers and policemen will be trained in the conduct of swab testing to boost Davao City’s manpower needs in determining possible coronavirus disease 2019 cases.
They will be swabbing their peers, who are suspected to have been infected with the virus.
On Thursday, 33 personnel of Davao City Police office (DCPO) started training to become swab takers.
City Health Office (CHO) head, Dr. Josephine Villafuerte said that the training is in line with the statement of Mayor Inday Sara Duterte’s wish for the police and the military to have their own quarantine facility, especially for those who have been exposed.
“After this, they will be the ones to conduct swab tests on their peers and they will send it to the Sta. Ana Health Center for an additional procedure to ensure that before it reaches the SPMC (Southern Philippine Medical Center) the samples had underwent the correct procedure,” she said.
Villafuerte said that the personnel of Sta. Ana health center will do initial verification of the samples before it will be transmitted to SPMC for testing.
“After their one-day training they can start taking samples,” she said.
Each personnel who underwent training will receive a complete Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) set and three sample kits. (City Information Office)
