Scene from the Rapid Mass Test being conducted at the Vicente Sotto Memorial Gym in Barangay Punta Princesa, Cebu City on Friday, May 8, 2020.
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Over 21,300 individuals from the cities of Lapu-Lapu, Mandaue, and Cebu have been subjected to the ’strategic rapid mass testing’ a week since it started.
Data from the Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas (OPAV) showed that the initiative named Project Balik Buhay reported an accomplishment rate of 53.8 percent as of May 14, 2020. It started on May 6, 2020.
Of the three cities, Mandaue City has logged a turnout rate of around 80 percent. This means that out of the 11,632 individuals they are targeting, a total of 9,303 have already undergone the rapid antibody test.
Lapu-Lapu City, meanwhile, recorded a turnout rate of 63 percent after collecting blood samples from a total of 6,604 individuals.
On the other hand, only 5,429 of the 17, 536 individuals identified from Cebu City have been tested, reporting a 31 percent turnout rate.
Dr. Mary Jean Loreche, chief pathologist of the Department of Health in Central Visayas (DOH – 7), said they would be recommending to go back to areas where low turnouts had reported.
“We will be returning to those with low turnouts so that we can (gather more and) get a better representation,” Loreche said in a live Facebook update on May 15. /dbs