THE Provincial Government of Negros Occidental has lauded the Municipality of Pontevedra for its organized and effective contact tracing system during the conduct of the Rapid Antigen Testing (RAT) rollout over the weekend.
Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz II said that of the pilot areas covered, Pontevedra stood out as the most organized and systematic local government unit in the implementation of RAT despite the activity's short notice.
Records showed that 12 out of the 85 close contacts have been tested positive in the rapid antigen test conducted in the town.
It added that the town's positivity rate is at 14.12 percent.
Diaz said those who yielded positive results during the RAT were isolated and treated as confirmed Covid-19 cases.
He described the contract tracing system of Pontevedra as a classic example of cooperation and teamwork.
It was spearheaded by Mayor Jose Maria Alonso, Municipal Health Officer Dr. Johnson Zuluaga and the Pontevedra Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office.
Two medical technologists from the Teresita L. Jalandoni Provincial Hospital Molecular Laboratory oversaw and supervised the maiden RAT rollout in selected areas in the province with the supervision of Chief of Clinics Dr. Francis Relota.
Safety protocols were stringently followed during the activity.
Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson earlier issued guidelines on the rollout and use of rapid antigen testing to 20,000 Negrenses to hasten its contact tracing efforts.
The governor, however, said insufficient medical frontliners somehow affected the RAT as most of them are attending to the ongoing vaccination rollout in the province.