Marikina City will be offering coronavirus disease (COVID-19) swab tests to its residents undergoing dialysis treatment, as dialysis patients are required to undergo swab tests before undergoing the treatment to ensure they are COVID-free, as part of health protocols.

Mayor Marcelino Teodoro announced this on Friday (Aug. 7), after dialysis centers in Marikina and the local government came to an agreement to provide dialysis patients with a swab test.
"Our immuno-compromised residents need to get their results quickly because they really need dialysis treatment. That's why we came up with this agreement with the eight dialysis facilities in the city to unburden cancer patients," Teodoro said in a statement.
According to the statement, the agreement seeks to minimize the risk of immuno-compromised patients contracting the coronavirus from health facilities catering to COVID-19 patients as well as those without COVID-19.

According to the mayor, the Marikina Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory will process the swab samples, noting that their laboratory can release swab test results in just 24 hours.
Dr. Antonio Llabres, Marikina City Task Force COVID-19 logistics head, said the dialysis patients need to present a referral letter from their doctor to the Marikina City Epidemiological Surveillance Unit (CESU) stating that they need to undergo a COVID-19 swab test in order to undergo a dialysis treatment.
"It is a matter of life and death that is why the process is also very simple. They are immuno-compromised and they really need dialysis treatment as soon as possible," Llabres said. " without the result of the test, they cannot undergo a session of dialysis treatment."
According to the city official, patients are finding it difficult to look for a COVID-19 testing center that can accommodate them immediately because of their existing health condition.
"No more lines unlike at other testing facilities, they will get tested immediately ," he said. #
CAPTION: Marikina City Mayor Marcelino Teodoro presents to DOH Sec. Francisco Duque III and other officials the best practices and innovations being implemented by the local government to stop the spread of COVID-19 in Marikina.