THE City Government of Cagayan de Oro, in coordination with the Department of Health (DOH), has started rapid diagnostic testing, targeting individuals who are exhibiting flu-like symptoms and were exposed or close contacts of Covid-19 patients.
The family members of patient 6783, the 69-year-old man from Pinikitan, Barangay Camaman-an who died of Covid-19 complications, however, refused to be tested, City Epidemiologist Dr. Joey Retuya said.
Dr. Ian Gonzales, DOH-Northern Mindanao Infectious Diseases head, said the family members only agreed to be tested prior to their discharge from the isolation units.
"Wala pa sila nagsugot for now kay naa pa silay mga reservations regarding the testing. However, they said they are willing to undergo the test prior to their discharge from our community isolation units," he said.
"If in any case, they can decide to get the test earlier, then we can make it available to them," he added.
The 16 family members of patient 6783 are currently in a City Isolation Unit for their quarantine period.
But Retuya said all of them are not exhibiting suspicious symptoms.
Meanwhile, Retuya said eight individuals also from Barangay Camaman-an who were earlier monitored for flu-like symptoms underwent rapid antibody tests on Wednesday, April 29. They all tested negative.
Retuya said they will conduct rapid antibody tests on health workers who had close contact with Covid-19 patients admitted in private hospitals.
Unlike PCR tests, which use swabs to find the actual presence of the coronavirus in a patient, rapid tests use blood samples and can only detect antibodies. Antibodies are what the body produces after responding to and having been infected by a virus.