Taxi drivers who ply Cebu City’s streets will be required to undergo pooled testing for COVID-19, according to Mayor Edgardo Labella. | CDN file photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Taxi drivers plying the Cebu City streets will be subjected to pooled testing for the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).
Mayor Edgardo Labella announced this in a press conference on Thursday, February 11, 2021, while working from home in Barangay Bacayan.
The mayor said the plan to test members of the transportation sector has long been part of the Project Balik Buhay, a movement to revitalize the economy of the Tri-Cities in Cebu.
“Magtest ta sa atong mga taxi drivers aron mas safe gyod atong katawhan nga mosakay aning mga taxi,” said Labella.
The pooled reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test was already previously conducted in Carbon Market with over 2,000 individuals swabbed.
The pooled testing allows many samples to be tested together so as to save resources.
If a batch proves positive to the COVID-19, the samples will then be individually processed to identify which of the individuals was actually infected.
The testing for the drivers will be from February 16, 2021, onward depending on how fast the swabbing can be done.
It took at least 10 days for the Carbon Market pooled testing to be completed.
Labella said all taxi drivers who ply the city streets will need to be tested, whether they are residents or not.
The site of the testing is yet to be revealed.
Those who refuse to be tested may not be able to ply the streets of the city, but the mayor trusts the drivers will be compliant.
“Maistoryahan ra na sila. Sayon ra na sila estoryahan,” said Labella.
The city government hopes that through the pooled testing, the commuting public will be safer from the spread of the COVID-19. /rcg