Vendors in Manila’s 17 public markets will be the first ones to undergo swab testing of the second RT-PCR molecular laboratory in Sta. Ana Hospital when it opens next week, Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso said on Monday.
“This is to ensure that every buyer in our public markets is safe from any possible COVID-19 infection,” Domagoso said in a Facebook post.
Domagoso gave the directive to Manila Health Department Acting City Health Officer Dr. Arnold Pangan, Sta. Ana Hospital director Dr. Grace Padilla, and Market Administrator Zenaida Mapoy.
“We test them so we can guarantee the people that those selling inside our markets are safe individuals. They are our first clients; we start with those in the public markets. The vendors would in fact be gladdened because they would not spending P4,000 each. They would know they are safe, and the buyers would also know they are safe,” he said in a meeting with city officials.
He said after the public market vendors, drivers of pedicab, tricycle, and jeepneys; and meat butchers would also be tested for COVID-19.