REGULAR commercial flight passengers who arrived in Davao City from June 8 until present are encouraged to get themselves tested for the Sars-CoV-2, the virus causing the coronavirus disease (Covid-19).
Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio said on Wednesday, June 24, that the City Government has rolled out its free reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing on June 29.
The mayor said the RT-PCR testing will be voluntary and she hopes the passengers will take advantage of the free testing.
On June 8, the City Government has allowed the resumption of domestic commercial flights after it was placed under general community quarantine (GCQ).
Under the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) omnibus guidelines, traveling from one GCQ area to another, or to a modified GCQ (MGCQ) is allowed.
The mayor said the City Government will release an information card on its official social media accounts in the coming days, wherein they will be given contact with the Covid-19 operation center.
She said asymptomatic and symptomatic passengers can avail of the free testing.
The mayor said the voluntary testing for flight passengers is another strategy of the City Government in tracing individuals who might have acquired the Covid-19 virus.
"Isa ni sa atong pamaagi aron makapangita og pasyente. Lahi pa ni sa atong contact tracing and case finding (This is our way of detecting patients who might have Covid-19. This is different from our contact tracing and case finding efforts)," Duterte-Carpio said in an interview via 87.5 FM Davao City Disaster Radio.
She said the city has allocated test kits good for 1,000 people, which will be sourced from the Bayanihan Grant to Cities and Municipalities (BGCM) under the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act from the National Government. The city has been allocated with P476 million.
Excluded from availing the test, the mayor said, are locally stranded individuals (LSI) and returning overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).
Duterte-Carpio said LSIs and OFWs are encouraged to get their test at the Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC).
Coronavirus-positive passenger
Meanwhile, the mayor confirmed that one commercial flight passenger tested positive for the coronavirus after getting an RT-PCR test.
She said the passenger was already not feeling well upon arrival and when checked by health screening personnel, the passenger manifested symptoms of Covid-19.
Duterte-Carpio was not able to provide additional details of the passenger like date of arrival and point of origin. She said the passenger is now quarantined in one of the city's quarantine centers.
Duterte-Carpio, meanwhile, said they already contacted the airline company and that a contact-tracing is ongoing.
"Gina-contact tracing na 'to iyang mga katupad didto sa airplane (They are contact tracing those passengers who are in close contact with the Covid-positive patient)," she said.