20 positive, 201 negative in Quezon City testing

QUEZON CITY, Philippines — The Quezon City government has begun receiving results of the swabs collected from residents as part of its community-based testing for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Twenty out of the first 221 swabs collected last week in various testing centers yielded positive results for the viral illness, according to the latest data released by the city government. The other 201 were negative.

As of yesterday, the city government is awaiting results of another 1,428 swabs collected from residents.

Earlier this month, Quezon City began implementing community-based testing for residents experiencing symptoms or were exposed to a COVID-19 patient.

Project manager Joseph Juico said the testing centers were established to cater to residents who are experiencing symptoms or have been exposed to a COVID patient.

Those who tested positive would be given medical attention at one of the city’s isolation facilities, he said.

Those who tested negative were advised to undergo self-quarantine for 14 days and practice proper social distancing.

As of Monday night, the Department of Health confirmed 1,261 COVID-19 cases in Quezon City.

Mayor Joy Belmonte this week approved the grant of P4,000 for over 346,000 qualified families who were excluded from the national government’s social amelioration program.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development only allotted Quezon City 377,584 slots for the emergency subsidy program even though there are 723,822 families qualified to receive it.

Cash aid for Makati’s graduates

The Makati City government will release cash grants to 11,713 public elementary and senior high school graduates, Mayor Abby Binay said yesterday.

In a statement, she said this is the first time for the city government to award a P1,000 cash incentive to all non-honor graduates, residents and non-residents alike.

She added that the money will be credited to their parents’ Gcash account “so the students will not have to go out and get the money themselves.”

Supermarket  transmission

Mayor Toby Tiangco yesterday warned residents that two confirmed COVID-19 cases in Navotas may have gotten the virus at a supermarket.

Of the 34 confirmed cases in the city, the latest involved two relatives who went to a supermarket outside Navotas last April 20 before experiencing symptoms.

“Let us help each other so that this crisis will end. Let us remain in our homes to keep safe,” Tiangco said.

The third latest case for COVID-19 has asthma and was exposed to a COVID patient.

The three latest patients are residents of Barangay Sipac-Almacen.

38 RITM  employees recover

At the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM), a total of 38 employees have recovered from COVID-19, an official said yesterday.

The 38 employees comprise 84.4 percent of 45 employees who contracted COVID-19, RITM director Celia Carlos said.

Last week, the RITM – the country’s primary testing laboratory for COVID-19 – was forced to scale down its operations after 45 of its staff tested positive for the virus.

Carlos said the 38 employees have returned to work while seven others remain in quarantine and are in stable condition.–Ralph Edwin Villanueva, Marc Jayson Cayabyab, Sheila Crisostomo