Regular mass testing for COVID-19 starts in CamSur

“Ang ating strategy against COVID-19: test, isolate, and contact trace.”

This is how Governor Miguel Luis “Migz” Villafuerte of the Provincial Government of Camarines Sur describes the province’s approach to contain and prevent further local transmission of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Camarines Sur.

To fulfill the first step in this strategy, the province officially started the regular mass rapid diagnostic testing on June 29, 2020 at the Convention Center, Capitol Complex. Among the first to undergo the rapid test are capitol employees to ensure the safety and health of all constituents who have transactions with the Provincial Government.

The province purchased Abbott’s COVID-19 IgG/IgM Rapid Test Device, which is the testing kit that is commonly used in the United States. The said testing kit detects both IgG and IgM Antibodies. Patients who may have had COVID-19 and have already developed antibodies against potential future infection will test positive for IgG antibodies, while patients who may have been recently infected and may still be infected will test positive of IgM antibodies.

COVID 19 MASS TESTING. Gov. Migz Villafuerte and the Provincial Government of Camarines Sur started the initial mass rapid diagnostic testing last June 29, 2020 at the Capitol Convention Center to ensure the safety and health of all CamSur constituents. jmts/rbmjr/pgomultimedia07012020 with photos from fb_GovMigzVillafuerte

“Tuloy-tuloy lang po ito. We are targeting to test 500 people everyday of the week. Tapos we will ramp it up to 1,000 as the days go by,” shared Gov. Migz.

Aside from the regular mass testing, the Provincial Government has also put up a rapid testing area manned by the Provincial Incident Management Team at the Naga Airport to ensure that all passengers who land at the said airport will undergo rapid diagnostic test, among other minimum health standards.

Those who will test positive in the rapid diagnostic test will undergo another round of rapid diagnostic test to ensure reliability of the results. If both results turn out to be positive, the patient will be isolated at the Camarines Sur COVID-19 Isolation and Treatment Facility at Banasi, Bula, where they will undergo Nasopharyngeal swab test. This is considered the confirmatory test for COVID-19.

“I encourage other LGUs to also invest in test kits. Kahit rapid test kit ‘yan, even though it is not 100%, it will be 0% if we do not test kaya tulong-tulong tayo,” furthered the governor.

As of writing, the Provincial Government is in the process of drafting an Executive Order for stricter border control in Camarines Sur. Gov. Migz reasoned, “Gusto po nating ma-test, mabantayan lahat ng lalabas at papasok sa probinsya ng Camarines Sur.”