Labella announces postponement of rapid mass testing in Cebu City to May 6
Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella announced that the massive COVID-19 testing for the city in line with the Project Balik Buhay will have to be pushed back to May 6, 2020, instead of its original schedule on May 4. | Photo courtesy of Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella
CEBU CITY, Philippines – Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella announced on Sunday, May 3, 2020, that the rapid, massive testing for Cebu City will have to be pushed back to a later date “to address issues and concerns of (the) barangays and (its) residents.”
Testing was supposed to start in Cebu City on Monday, May 4.
But with the need to address barangay concerns, Labella said that city’s schedule will have to be moved to Wednesday, May 6.
The need for mass testing was decided during the recent launch of the Project Balik Buhay program where Cebu City is a part of.
Other participants include the cities of Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu, the Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas (OPAV), and the Department of Health in Central Visayas (DOH -7).
The program targets over 40,000 individuals from the tri-cities to undergo rapid antibody tests to detect possible infection of COVID-19 within a span of 10 days.
Results of the tests, as well as the confirmatory tests that will follow, will serve as a basis for local governments in deciding whether or not there was already a need to transition to a more relaxed community quarantine. / dcb
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