MANILA Mayor Isko Moreno announced that the city government’s free mass swab testing for public transport drivers, market vendors, hotel employees and mall workers will resume tomorrow, December 28, after it was temporarily halted due to the Christmas break.
The said swab tests will be conducted up to December 30. It will again be temporarily halted from December 31 to January 3 and will resume again on January 4.
Moreno said the tests aim to give the public peace of mind and safety from exposure to people with COVID-19, specially those who may be asymptomatic or manifest no symptoms at all.
The free swab testing is contained in an executive order issued by Moreno and meant to protect as many as possible against COVID-19 and stem its transmission.
In signing the said EO, Moreno stressed the need to assure residents that when they go out and try to go back to their work safely, the fear of getting exposed to PUV drivers or employes of service-oriented establishments and getting the virus is somehow allayed, knowing that these drivers and employes got swabbed.
In a related development, Moreno had signed the appointment papers of 26 newly-hired and 104 newly-promoted personnel from the Manila Health Department (MHD), 22 medical frontliners from the Sta. Ana Hospital and four newly-promoted from the City Personnel Office.
Moreno said the move is part of the city government’s continuing efforts to strengthen the capability of the health sector, in order to better address the challenges during the pandemic.
The hiring of more health personnel came amid pronouncements made by some government health experts that the number of new infections may rise due to the holiday season.
