Mayor Abby Binay on Thursday said Makati City will be the first local government unit in the country to conduct pooled RT-PCR Testing for Covid-19, and will give priority to public- utility vehicle (PUV) drivers and market vendors when it starts testing on August 15.
“We are initially targeting 10,000 individuals, mostly PUV drivers and market vendors who are among the sectors that are most exposed to the virus. Later on, the pooled testing method can be applied to other sectors,” Mayor Abby said in a news statement.
The mayor on Wednesday signed a memorandum of agreement with the Philippine Children’s Medical Center (PCMC), the Philippine Center for Entrepreneurship, and the BDO Foundation, to formally begin the pilot implementation of the pooled RT-PCR Testing, developed under Project ARK. Makati is con-funding the project.
Under the pooled testing method, swab samples of multiple individuals are tested at the same time. If the result is positive, all the individuals in the pool will be tested separately. If the swab test comes back negative, there is no need to test everyone in the batch.
“I am honored that Makati City is taking the lead in this groundbreaking initiative. Covid-19 is bigger than all of us. As mayor, I will gladly take on additional responsibility if it would lead to better testing, isolation, and treatment for patients infected with the coronavirus,” Mayor Abby said.
She noted that the results of the study are expected to have a big impact on mass testing protocols and could lead to more efficient handling of coronavirus cases all over the country. The study was pioneered by PCMC and is now in its second phase.
Under the agreement, Makati City will select groups of people, or communities to be swabbed. Makati health personnel will be trained on proper swabbing and sample pooling methods. The city will then apply the results of the research to its own health policies and programs for better Covid-19 response.
The mayor emphasized that the result of the pilot test will be shared with other local government units to help them improve their own Covid-19 protocols.