Private sector urged not to let guard down during GCQ

There is still a high risk of infection in Metro Manila despite being allowed to reopen, the private sector was reminded on Monday.

In a statement, Joey Concepcion, presidential adviser for entrepreneurship and Go Negosyo founder, said that without vigilance, there is a danger of a second lockdown which will be "devastating for the livelihoods of... MSMEs and large corporations."

Concepcion proposed that testing of employees by using either either RT-PCR or rapid test kits should be done regularly on a voluntary basis. "For us to keep the economy continuously open, we need to maintain clear visibility through regular testing of employees and LGUs that we are helping," he said.

He leads Project ARK which conducts rapid, PCR and seroprevalence testing across the country in partnership with 300 companies. The initiative raised more than 1.2 million rapid test kits and activated 12 hospitals to have the capacity.

The effort will allow mapping of infections using data gathered from the private sector's testing efforts as well as those from local government units such as Quezon City, cities such as Pasig, Taguig, Makati and Antipolo and Batangas province, Concepcion said.

“As we gain more information and better understand the disease, we must constantly evaluate and recalibrate our plans and methods,” he added.