In the heels of aggressive testing of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (Covid-19) patients’ contacts and residents whose jobs naturally exposes them people, Mayor Benjamin B. Magalong vowed the City Government will sustain efforts to curb spread of the disease in Baguio.
This, even as an inventory of Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain React Test (RT-PCR) test kits, August 5, reveals the city is down to 19-thousand RT-PCR kits. Mayor Benjie earlier sourced out 40-thousand units from various donors.
Magalong said if the city decides to continue current pace of mass testing, it may have to resort to purchase albeit it has to wait for the cheapest lot to save on costs.
For now, he added, the city has to manage its current resources.
To recall, a number of businesses, taxpayers all, folded up during implementation of quarantine measures geared at controlling peoples’ movement to curb spread of Covid-19. The closure of businesses created a collection shortfall in the projected 2020 income of the city.
Looking at a protracted battle against the disease that may last until 2021, the mayor said he would try his level best to look for other donors to ease burden from the city’s coffers.
Magalong likewise pondered, the City might have to consider innovating ways on how to control movement of residents. Faced with meager test kits, he said Baguio might have to resort to “zonal lockdowns”.
He explained, in the event of clustering of cases, barangays or puroks shall be locked-down, residents placed on quarantine for 14-days to ensure no possible carriers of the disease are able to spread the malady inadvertently.
“It’s either we test them or quarantine them for two weeks,” he said.
CHO chief Dr. Rowena Galpo meantime bared, the city conducts an average of 462-RT-PCR tests and 75-RDT exams per day at present.
As of August 4, it has undertaken a total of 33,970-RT-PCR and RDT tests, which the mayor said is “already high” compared to the other local government units and regions.
Then again, he added, a test is “only as good as to the day [the] person was tested. [After the test], he remains vulnerable to the virus even after testing negative”, the mayor added.** Aileen P. Refuerzo
