Independent presidential candidate Leni Robredo on Monday oversaw the implementation of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) Swab Cab in Quezon City which offers free COVID-19 antigen tests to the public.
In a Facebook Live post, Robredo said the lines were already long very early in the morning at the Immaculate Conception Parish Church in Novaliches, an indication that many people wanted to avail of the free swab test to determine if they are sick with COVID-19 or not.
The sheer number of people who showed up led the OVP Swab Cab team to set up extra swabbing stations to accommodate more individuals, she said.
“Our goal is to give equitable access to swab tests so we are bringing our Swab Cab to communities,” Robredo said.
She said that of the 26 individuals who were swabbed by 9:45 am, 11 tested positive while 15 turned out to be negative for COVID-19.
Robredo is advocating for mass testing as an effort to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.
The OVP Swab Cab was launched last year following a spike in cases but was discontinued with the downtrend in COVID-19 cases.
However, Robredo immediately revived the free antigen testing last week as the fresh surge of cases began.
The Vice President said COVID-19 tests should be made free and accessible to the public to determine who should isolate or quarantine, and thus cut off the virus transmission.