Valenzuela City is targeting to test at least 10 percent of its population for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) by year end, Mayor Rex Gatchalian said Wednesday.
Gatchalian gave assurance that the 10 percent target "is achievable" given the city's new molecular laboratory that will start to operate next week.
Currently, the city has about 664,000 residents. A total of 20,729 of them have already been tested through polymerase chain reaction (PCR) machines as of August 30.
"We want to target at least 10 percent of the population come year end,” Gatchalian said during the visit of the Coordinated Operations to Defeat Epidemic (CODE) Team led by National Action Plan (NAP) against COVID-19 Chief Implementer Carlito G. Galvez Jr., and NAP Deputy Chief Implementer Vivencio "Vince" Dizon to the city.
He also said that all those who will be tested will undergo swab or PCR tests and not rapid tests.
“We haven't done a single rapid test in the city of Valenzuela. We have not touched the kits na rapid. We don't subscribe to that,” he added.
The local government allocated P106 million for the purchase of test kits, according to Gatchalian. Some of them were already used for various frontliners, who were the first to get tested for COVID-19.
"As of August 30, 38 percent of that we’ve tested are frontliners. It includes medical and non-medical frontliners as well as barangay officials namin who are part of the Social Amelioration Program and all the relief efforts. They were all tested and will be tested again,” he said in mixed English and Filipino.