23 PUIs tested negative after Rapid Test in Baguio City

23 Persons Under Investigation (PUIs) have tested negative after Baguio City started with rapid tests for health workers and PUIs with mild COVID-19 symptoms last April 4, 2020.

Mayor Magalong consults health practitioners for rapid tests in the city

These rapid tests started in the city even before the Department of Health approved of mass testing in the national level. On April 2, Mayor Benjamin Magalong approved the conduct of rapid testing in the city. This was after his talks with local government health professionals regarding finding ways to make it easier and faster to identify and treat infected patients and to conduct isolation and rapid contact tracing.

Yesterday tests were conducted again wherein 36 patients are waiting for the test results.

What will happen after the rapid tests?

According to the local government, PUIs who tested negative from the rapid tests will be asked to continue with the 14-day quarantine. On the other hand, those with positive results will be subject to PCR confirmatory tests. This is because the results of the rapid tests are not confirmatory to those produced by test kits donated to the city.

Enough Test Kits for PUIs in Baguio

As of yesterday, there are 390 PUIs under home quarantine in the city. And according to Mayor Magalong, we have around 400 test kits which are enough for all of these patients.

Combined efforts to beat COVID-19

Our frontliners – the health workers and scientists, government and military, and employees of essential establishments –  are clearly taking necessary steps to make this fight against COVID-19 end. As mass testing is seen as a great help to flatten the curve, it will still be difficult to win this fight without our cooperation. So as we continue to watch for updates on this dreaded disease, may we continue to do what is also necessary on our part.