The Office of the Vice President (OVP) and its private partners turned over three Swab Cabs on Monday, March 29, to pilot their free mobile swab service project in Malabon City to augment the local government unit’s (LGU) capacity to test suspected COVID-19 patients.
The project includes 3,040 care kits and 3,000 rapid antigen swab test kits. The care kits consist of face shields and face masks.
During the virtual launch of the Swab Cab, Vice President Leni Robredo, together with the OVP’s resident doctor, personally gave a tour of the bus that will be used for the antigen testing in communities.
“Ito ay bahagi ng mahabang proseso. Hopefully, makatulong ng malaki sa Malabon. Pwede magawa ito sa iba pang lugar na may matataas na transmission (This is part of a longer process. Hopefully, this can be a big help to Malabon. We can do this in other places with high transmission),” she said via Facebook Live.
The three Swab Cabs will accommodate two testers and patients each. There will be a total of six testers but to prevent transmission in the cabs, the process will be limited to no more than five minutes.
The result of the antigen test will be available between 15 and 20 minutes.
During the Swab Cab tour, it was shown that there will be a divider between the driver/operator of the bus and the areas where the testing will be done.
There will be two entrances to the bus so the patients will not have to bump into each other. A plastic divider is also placed between the tester and patient.
The OVP assured that the testing will follow the Department of Health’s (DOH) health protocols—air and ventilation, physical distancing, and wearing of face masks and face shields.
Robredo explained the procedure of the swab testing, which will begin in the pilot area of Malabon City tomorrow (March 30).
“The first step in the process is being done by the barangay health officers. They will choose who needs to be tested. They are also going to conduct the orientation for all the patients we will test),” she said in Filipino.
“After receiving the results until the quarantine, we will help the LGU to ensure that they will be able to contact trace, quarantine, and isolate those who need to be isolated and quarantined,” Robredo added.
The vice president said the rapid antigen testing was not meant to replace the RT-PCR test, considered to be the gold standard in COVID-19 detection.
Rather, it is meant to complement the RT-PCR tests as a means of surveillance testing, so the LGU can isolate and quarantine those who tested positive, as well as their close contacts.
She clarified that the OVP isn’t doing the testing and process on its own, and that it is working together with the Healthcare Professional Alliance Against COVID-19 to maximize the results of the antigen testing.
Lawyer Voltaire Dela Cruz, the city administrator of Malabon, said this is critical in their test, trace, and isolate program.
“Sa Malabon, napaka-importante po ng testing. Dahil po dito sa ating rapid antigen test, magkakaroon po tayo ng diagnostic testing na mas mabilis (In Malabon, testing is very important. Because of this rapid antigen test, we are going to have a quicker diagnostic testing),” he said during the virtual launch.
The OVP partnered with Kaya Natin! Movement for Good Governance and Ethical Leadership and UBE Express Inc., as well as with Malabon City Mayor Antolin Oreta, for the Swab Cab project.