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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider OCD Central Office closed after 116 staff test positive for COVID

OCD Central Office closed after 116 staff test positive for COVID

Published Aug 26, 2021 10:13 pm

The central office of the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City was forced to temporarily shut down after more than a hundred of its workers tested positive for the coronavirus.

OCD spokesman Mark Timbal said that of the 380 employees of the agency, 116 of them tested positive based on the results of the RT-PCR (reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction) test conducted on the its personnel since Tuesday.

“We regret to inform the public that some members of the civil defense staff had tested positive for covid-19 today. For this reason, the OCD Central Office will be temporarily closed to undergo disinfection until 30 August 2021,” Timbal said in a statement.

“OCD services will continue via online channels with our workforce doing work-from-home. The 24/7 NDRRMC Operations Center, on the other hand, will continue to provide regular DRRM monitoring and coordination services,” he added.

Timbal said it started when a rapid antigen test conducted on the employees working as part of the skeletal force of the agency resulted in the two personnel testing positive. The two also tested positive during the RT-PCR test.

The OCD is regularly conducting rapid antigen testing as part of its procedures to ensure that our 30 percent skeletal workforce is protected while doing rotation duties.

The 112 other members of the skeletal force were subjected to RT-PCR on August 24. Off-duty personnel during the time when rapid antigen was conducted were also asked to be subjected to RT-PCR.

Based on the initial result, a total of 116 of the 280 OCD employees that were already subjected to RT-PCR tested positive.

Timbal said 85 more OCD employees, including him and OCD head Ricardo Jalad, were also subjected to RT-PCR and are now awaiting results.

The official said most of the OCD personnel, including those who tested positive, were already fully-vaccinated.

That is the reason, according to him, why most of those who tested positive are either asymptomatic or with mild symptoms.

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