Low turn-out in community testing noted

27 August 2021 – Mayor Benjamin Magalong has noted a low turn-out of persons willing to subject themselves to free swab tests in the latest Aggressive Community Testing (ACT) activities held in the city last Aug. 13-14 and Aug. 19-21.

“People now seem to prefer being vaccinated rather than tested.  Dati-rati nag-uunahan magpatest pero ngayon mas gusto na nila sa vaccination sites na lang pumila,” he said.

City Health Services Officer Dr. Rowena Galpo reported during the Management Committee (ManCom) meeting on Aug. 24 that the city failed to meet its target number of tests of 4,500 having conducted a total of 2,568 tests during the five-day run targeting vulnerable sectors.

Of the total, 78 were found positive for the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) which represents a 3.04  percent positivity rate.

Throughout the pandemic, the mayor had worked out several ACT operations in the city with his aim to ramp up the city’s testing capacity as a tool for controlling the spread of the virus.

Because of this, the city has maintained a testing capacity usually at 500 a day that is the highest in the country albeit still below the standard measure.

As of Aug. 23, the city has tested a total of 144,791 individuals representing 38.66 percent of the population.  Total tests done since the start of the pandemic were 229,841.

The mayor had maintained that testing is important as it helps determine where the infections are coming from enabling local government units to implement measures to prevent more infections. – Aileen P. Refuerzo