UNVACCINATED workers who are required to work onsite in private and government entities in areas under Alert Level 2 and above must undergo coronavirus disease (Covid-19) RT-PCR testing once every two weeks or weekly antigen test.

Government agencies and local government units may cover the cost of Covid-19 testing of their unvaccinated employees, subject to availability of funds and civil service, accounting and auditing rules and regulations, said presidential spokesperson Martin Andanar said on Tuesday, June 28, 2022.

Employees infected with coronavirus over the past 90 days, as well as those with alternative working arrangements, such as work-from-home, are exempted from the testing requirement.

Andanar said all establishments and employers in the public and private sector in areas with sufficient Covid-19 vaccines must require their eligible employees who are tasked to do on-site work to be vaccinated against Covid-19.

“Further, testing requirements mentioned above shall be waived for areas under Alert Level 1 classification, subject to the implementation of clinical-based management, including symptomatic testing,” he said.

Andanar said the updated testing requirements for unvaccinated employees were approved by the Inter-Agency Task Force on Monday, June 27, 2022. (SunStar Philippines)