COMPREHENSIVE SWAB TESTING. Negros Oriental Assistant Provincial Health Officer, Dr. Liland Estacion, on Friday (June 11, 2021) said she is requesting the Department of Health in Region 7 for a one-week extension of the conduct of comprehensive Covid-19 testing in Dumaguete City. The DOH-7 had ordered a two-week mass testing of a targeted 5,000 first-generation direct contacts of Covid-19 patients to get a clear picture of the surge in cases in the capital city. (PNA file photo courtesy of City PIO)
DUMAGUETE CITY – After failing to reach its quota of 5,000 individuals swabbed for coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) here in two weeks, the Negros Oriental Provincial Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (PIATF-EID) has requested for a one-week extension from the Department of Health (DOH) in Region 7 (Central Visayas).
Assistant Provincial Health Officer Dr. Liland Estacion, incident commander for Covid-19 of the PIATF, in a virtual press briefing Friday afternoon said they are short of more than 1,000 individual tests as of June 11.
The comprehensive testing was still carried out on Friday, supposedly the last day of the activity as ordered by DOH-7 to get the real picture of the Covid-19 situation in this capital city, which has been experiencing a surge in cases.
The DOH-7 had sent the province 5,000 Universal Transport Medium (UTMs) kits for the massive testing of first-generation contacts of Covid-19 positive patients with a 500 per day quota.
Estacion, in an interview after the press briefing, said “sa tinuoray, naa pa koy 1,000 kapin sa 5,000 nga UTMs nga ako na nga gi-share sa ubang LGUs kay dili ko pwede nga dili mu share kay hinay man ang Dumaguete (in truth, I still have 1,000 plus of the 5,000 UTMS that I shared with other LGUs which I had to share after learning that Dumaguete is slow) in its mass testing”.
“We have not reached the 5,000 quota set by DOH. Most likely, we only reached more than 2,000 for the entire two weeks,” she said in mixed English and Cebuano.
She lamented that people who were traced as first-generation contacts of positive patients did not appear at the designated swab testing center.
There really is a high number of positive cases in Dumaguete now because of the mass testing, and so more people have been identified for swabbing, but like yesterday, only 150 were tested, she said.
Both the Provincial Health Office and the City Health Office are conducting the daily mass testing based on a list provided by the City IATF, she added.
Estacion admitted that there are many asymptomatic Covid-19 positive patients roaming around the city because of their refusal to be swabbed.
Asked what possible charges could be slapped against the protocol violators, she said she will have to refer to the IATF guidelines, noting that these people are putting public health and safety at risk. (PNA)
