LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – Some three thousand five hundred reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests will be conducted by the State-owned Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) in La Trinidad, Itogon, Sablan, Tuba and Tublay towns by the second week of June as part of aggressive community testing to contain the rapid spread of the dreaded Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the said areas.
Mayor Romeo K. Salda reported that La Trinidad, Itogon and Tuba will be conducting 1,000 tests each while Sablan will be doing 400 tests and Tublay will be conducting only 100 tests under a simultaneous schedule.
He pointed out that the conduct of the aggressive community testing had been repeatedly postponed because of conflicts in the schedule due to overlaps with scheduled the vaccination roll out in the said municipalities.
Mayor Salda claimed that as early as March, the municipal government had been ready with the members of the vulnerable sectors to be vaccinated so the community testing had to be moved back a number of times to give way for the vaccination program to avoid the health workers from being over worked and stressed with the huge tasks being placed on their shoulders.
Earlier, the La Trinidad municipal government ordered all business establishments in the municipality to prepare the list of 10 percent of their workers who will undergo the required RT-PCR tests once the final schedule of the community testing will be determined by the involved agencies.
According to him, the LISTT local governments had to prioritise the vaccination schedules over the RT-PCR tests as the vaccines have a limited lifetime.
The local chief executive stipulated they tried to get earlier schedules for the community testing with the BCDA but these were not available for April and May, thus, they are willing to settle for the June schedule.
The municipal mayor asserted that the local government is continuously looking for available isolation units that could be used once there will be surges in COVID cases in the municipality, especially if found during the conduct of the community testing, so that those testing positive for the virus will be immediately isolated.
He called on residents to avail of the community testing to help ascertain their health condition and have the necessary intervention on time if found positive. By HENT
