At least 110 hospital and health center frontliners in Makati City were tested for coronavirus on Wednesday.
Mayor Abigail Binay said the Makati Health Department conducted the test for 50 health care workers at Ospital ng Makati, 39 at Rizal Health Center, and 27 at Pembo Health Center to detect, isolate, and treat those who have contracted COVID-19.
She said testing frontliners for coronavirus is important to make sure that they are safe and healthy.
“The city’s priority is testing the frontliners and residents who are PUIs [persons under investigation] and PUMs [persons under monitoring]. Our frontliners are vulnerable to contracting the disease since they have direct contact with patients,” Binay said.
MHD chief Dr. Bernard Sese said the samples will be brought to the Philippine Red Cross National Headquarters in Mandaluyong City for diagnosis. He added the results are expected to come out after two days.
The city government earlier signed a memorandum of agreement with Red Cross for the mass testing of at least 2,000 frontliners, PUIs, and PUMs.
Apart from the testing center at Red Cross, Makati also sends samples to UP National Institutes of Health in Manila.
Earlier today, the city opened three temporary emergency quarantine facilities at Pembo Elementary School and another one at the parking area of OsMak for PUIs.
Binay thanked WTA Architecture and Design Studio for helping the city in building additional facilities for patients with symptoms.
Each facility, which is made of wooden frames and polyethylene sheets, has 15 beds, sanitation and disinfection areas, a testing box, and a lounge for nurses.
The city government will also build negative isolation tents at the ambulance bay of OsMak to protect other patients from contracting the viral disease.
Last February, it converted the Makati Friendship Suites in Barangay Cembo into a quarantine facility to accommodate PUIs.
Barangay health centers have also put up their isolation areas for those with symptoms.