By Jhon Aldrin Casinas
A total of 66 public market workers in Marikina City were placed under quarantine after testing “reactive” in the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) rapid testing of the local government.
Marikina Public Market administrator Dr. Mon Viliran said the City Health Office recently conducted an “enhanced targeted mass testing” to at least 2,000 stall holders, vendors, porters, and helpers of the public market.
“Ito ay istratehiya ng Marikina upang maging COVID-free ang nasabing palengke at kung may kaso ng COVID-19 ay agarang ma-contain ito (This is Marikina's strategy in order to make the market COVID-free, and in the case there is a COVID-19 case, it will be contained immediately),” Viliran said in a statement.
Out of the total number of people tested, the city official said 66 individuals were found “reactive” in the rapid testing, adding that 45 of them are store helpers who mostly are not residents of Marikina.
Following the release of rapid testing results, the local government has ordered the temporary closure of “suspected” stalls to pave way for the disinfection.
Those who tested “reactive” in the rapid test were already subjected to a confirmatory Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test to determine whether they have contracted the disease.
The local government has yet to release the results of the confirmatory swab test of those individuals.
Based on the initial contact tracing of the City Epidemiological Surveillance Unit (CESU), Viliran said a resident of a neighboring city was determined to be the possible source of the infection in the market.
“Malaki ang posibilidad na nakuha niya ito sa kanyang tirahan (There is a big possibility that the person has got it at his residence),” Viliran said.
With this, market goers were reminded to observe physical distancing and proper hand washing.
Authorities have also advised them to thoroughly wash and cook well the food they have purchased in order to be safe from the virus.