The free coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) drive-thru serology testing in front of the Kartilya ng Katipunan in Lawton has been closed to give way to ongoing construction, Manila Mayor Francisco ‘Isko Moreno’ Domagoso said on Monday. He encouraged the public to proceed to Luneta Grandstand for virus testing.
“Our drive-thru serology antibody IgG testing at the Kartilya and at the Grandstand, we want to inform the public that those who are planning to go to our drive-thru free mass testing please proceed to Luneta. Those planning to go to the Kartilya, kindly go to the Luneta Grandstand,” Domagoso said in a mix of English and Filipino during a Facebook live.
Domagoso said while the free serology mass testing will continue in the city, the drive-thru testing beside the Manila City Hall will be closed to give way to ongoing construction at Lawton.
He added that because the economy is slowly rebooting, and some businesses have reopened while people started to go back to work, traffic is building up at the Lawton area.
Closing the drive-thru testing will reportedly help ease up the traffic.
The free COVID-19 serology testing at the Luneta Grandstand is bigger than the one in Lawton. On top of the drive-thru testing, Domagoso said the city has five walk-in serology testing and two saturation mobile testing units that go around different barangays in Manila.
Domagoso also announced that on top of its IgG antibody testing, the Manila city government will now employ IgM antibody serology testing.
He said IgM reagents arrived from Germany for its serology testing machines.
“The IgM antibody testing will fulfill an important role if someone has developed antibodies in response to the virus indicating a recent or active infection. Ibig sabihin kung nag-positibo kayo, malalaman na agad natin. Maaaring kayo’y na-expose sa isang positibo at gusto niyo nang malaman 2-3 days after at gusto niyo na magpa test, malalaman natin agad natin thru IgM (This means that if you test positive, we will know it right away. You may have been exposed to a COVID-19 positive and you want to know 2-3 days after, and you want to be tested, we will know this immediately through the IgM),” Domagoso explained.
He said the IgG antibody testing with 99.6 percent specificity and 100 percent sensitivity will now also become IgM.
According to heath site WebMD, Immunoglobulin G or the IgG is the most common type of antibody in the blood and other body fluids.
These antibodies protect a person against infection by "remembering" which germs one has been exposed to.
On the other hand, bodies make Immunoglobulin M or IgM antibodies when first infected with new bacteria or other germs.
The IgM is the body's first line of defense against infections.
When the body senses an invader, the IgM level will rise for a short time.
It will then begin to drop as the IgG level kicks in and increases to protect the individual in the long-term.