PROVINCIAL Consultant on Economic Affairs and Investment Alfredo "Albee" Benitez is mulling to implement the expanded contact tracing through rapid antigen test (RAT) rollout all throughout Negros Occidental.
Benitez said the first day of the RAT rollout in the province on Saturday, October 9, was successful.
Of the initial 599 persons from 11 localities in the province, 56 or nine percent yielded positive results.
Kabankalan City and Pontevedra have the highest number of persons tested with positive results, with 12 each, followed by Binalbagan - seven; Silay City – six; Talisay City - five; Toboso - four; La Carlota City, San Enrique and Hinoba-an - three each; and Himamaylan City - one.
Pulupandan town was also included in the pilot testing, with zero residents tested positive for coronavirus.
Aside from these localities, the Provincial Government earlier said there are 12 pilot areas for the conduct of the mass testing using rapid antigen test kits.
The other local government unit (LGU) is Don Salvador Benedicto.
The Provincial Government started the three-day Expanded Contact Tracing and Early Detection Measures to institute control measures and curb the spread of Covid-19 that claimed many lives.
Individuals who tested positive for coronavirus will be isolated and managed as Covid-19 cases pending guidelines from the Department of Health (DOH).
These positive cases will not be added in the daily count of positive cases of the LGUs.
Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said the province received an initial of 6,500 testing kits from the DOH, adding that these kits will be useful in terms of early detection of possible coronavirus-infected individuals.
Also, in effect, it will enable the Provincial Government to institute control measures and prevent the spread of the deadly virus, he added.
Benitez said they will coordinate with other LGUs to quickly test all possible spreaders and close contacts of those who were tested positive.
He said rapid antigen test is 94 percent accurate for positive results. Those who will test negative but with symptoms and high risks will undergo the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test.
"From 12 LGUs, we will add more because our objective is to sweep the whole province and I'm sure they will cooperate because the pilot testing was effective," he said.
"We want to catch the Covid-19 spreader," he added.
Meanwhile, Provincial Administrator lawyer Rayfrando Diaz II said the rapid antigen testing resumed Monday, October 11, after it was suspended due to bad weather.
"Upon the requests of the LGUs, we released the rapid antigen testing kits for contact tracing," he said.
The pilot areas contributed about 75 percent of the total Covid-19 cases in the province, Diaz said, adding that "if Benitez is saying that if there's a need to do this in other areas then we will support that."