Cebu eyes targeted mass testing, modified ECQ

Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia plans to implement targeted mass testing in the province as a step toward implementing a modified enhanced community quarantine in the province. | Screengrab from FB

CEBU CITY, Philippines — A “massive targeted testing” or targeting mass testing will be Cebu province’s first step in rising from the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) crisis. 

Governor Gwendolyn Garcia, in a press conference this Monday, April 20, 2020, announced that the province was already in talks with medical experts from the University of the Philippines and a foreign rapid test kits supplier for the guidelines in the conduct of the massive targeted testing.

Garcia said the province was planning to purchase about 50,000 kits for the massive testing, which will be targeted to all persons under monitoring in the towns and cities and communities that had more vulnerable persons to the COVID-19 infection.

Garcia said that they were collating the demographic data of each component town and city in order to determine the number of people that would be subject to the massive rapid testing.

“Atong kuhaon ang demographic [data] sa kada lungsod, nagkadilain man. Lahi ang syudad, lahi ang lungsod. Lahi ang syudad duol sa Metro Cebu, lahi pod ang farther south or farther north ug sa mga isla. Mo-target ta og specific number of the population nga maoy conductan og rapid testing,” Garcia explained.

(We will get the demographic data of every town which is different in every case. The demography of cities near Metro Cebu is different compared to those that are in farther south, farther north or in the islands. We will target a specific number of people from population who will be the subject of the testing.)

Garcia said the province would have to carefully consider who and where would the massive targeted testing be conducted to maximize its resources. 

Read more: Gov’t urged to conduct ‘effective, more inclusive’ COVID-19 mass tests

Garcia reiterated that mass testing would still not be a sound step considering the province’s limitation on resources.

Dr. Christina Giango, Cebu Provincial Health officer, said the type of kit that the province was planning to avail was still awaiting approval from the Philippine Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Giango said the kits were considered to render “accurate” results based on their results in South Korea.

Garcia said the kits, which functioned similar to a pregnancy test kit, might be administered by health workers in the rural health units, but the results of the test would be analyzed by the doctors from UP.

Modified ECQ

The governor said that the targeted massive testing was one step towards setting up a modified enhanced community quarantine for the province.

Garcia said the massive testing was also one way to determine if it was already safe for the province to open establishments and allow more employees to report to work.

“Kung ato ning i-modify, possible nga dunay mga negosyo nga karon wala nato giconsider nga essential nga atong tugtan nga makaabli og balik o kaha, possibly ang 50 percent skeletal workforce, mahimo na nato nga gradually nga mapasaka aron there will be more productivity and duna na say trabaho,” Garcia said.

(If we will adopt a modified enhanced community quarantine, some businesses that we do not consider to be essential for now may be allowed to reopen or, in another case, the 50 percent on-site workforce may be gradually increased to improve productivity and so that others will have their jobs back.)

WATCH: Governor Gwendolyn Garcia gives updates COVID-19, ECQ on April 20, 2020

At present, the province has three COVID-19 cases of which two have recovered while the other one succumbed to the disease. This Monday, April 20,  is the 19th  straight day that the province has not recorded a new COVID-19 case despite the surge of cases in the province’s center, Cebu City, which now has 166 cases.

LOOK: DOH-7 statement on COVID-19 cases on April 20, 2020

But Garcia said the government could not wait for months of no new positive cases before it would start to move in getting the economy back on its feet.

The economic sector of the province has admittedly been affected by the ECQ that was imposed as a measure against COVID-19 since  operating hours were shortened, on-site workforce had been ordered to reduce to only 50 percent, and several employees from non-essential companies had lost their jobs temporarily or permanently due to furloughs. 

Garcia said that the province would have to slowly revive its economic sector as the government might not be able to sustain for a longer time the needs of the people who ended up losing their sources of income due to COVID-19 and the ECQ.

“Dili ni pwede nga hangtod sa hangtod because the government cannot sustain this. We have to, little by little, pabarugon nato ang atong ekonomiya,” Garcia said.

But before moving to the modified ECQ, Garcia said protocols would have to be in place to continue protecting the province from COVID-19.

“Dili na ni pareha sa una. We will have to define the new normal. Therefore, duna tay protocols [kon] unsa ang angay sundon sa mga kompaniya kung moabli in terms of sanitation, in terms of hygiene, in terms even of physical structures,” Garcia said.

(It will not be the same as before. We will have to define the new normal. Therefore, we will have protocols on what we are required to follow if the company would open such as in terms of sanitation, hygiene of physical structures.)

Garcia said that mass transportation might even be considered to be partially be reopened once a modified ECQ will be in effect./dbs