Exec asks private firms to test employees vs Covid-19

CLARK FREEPORT -- A top official of the National Government has urged private companies to have their returning employees tested for coronavirus disease (Covid-19).

National Action Plan Against Covid-19 Deputy Chief Implementer Vince Dizon made the statement on Friday, July 3, 2020.

Dizon also said that expanding testing protocols will help build confidence as businesses reopen to get the economy moving.

Dizon earlier recommended expanding Covid-19 testing to non-medical frontliners working in transport and logistics, security and sanitation, education, media, retail, food, and services, as well as to employees returning to their respective workplaces, even those who are asymptomatic.

Dizon and National Action Plan Against Covid-19 Chief Implementer Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. attended the inauguration of the San Miguel Foundation Testing Laboratory on July 3.

According to San Miguel President and Chief Operating Officer Ramon Ang, the Covid-19 testing facility can process up to 4,000 tests daily and is still expandable to 12,000.

He said the facility can process test results in just three hours.

The San Miguel laboratory is one of the 74 accredited laboratories in the country as of July 1.

The Covid-19 national task force earlier said the government aims to conduct 10 million Covid-19 tests in the next 10 months.