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Cebu City dispatches 1st batch of swabbers to aid in COVID-19 testing

Philippines | Luzon

Cebu City dispatches 1st batch of swabbers to aid in COVID-19 testing

By Minerva Newman

CEBU CITY -- The Inter-Agency Task Force for the management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-MEID)-Visayas has deployed the first batch of 26 swabbers here Friday as part of the Emergency Operations Center's (EOC) aggressive contact tracing efforts.

The Inter-Agency Task Force for the management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-MEID)-Visayas has deployed the first batch of 26 swabbers here on July 17, 2020 as part of the Emergency Operations Center's (EOC) aggressive contact tracing efforts. (Photo courtesy of IATF-Visayas/Fayette C. Rinen)

According to retired Maj. Gen. Mel Feliciano, who is assisting Cebu overseer Roy Cimatu, the swabbers will be playing a crucial role in the city’s battle against COVID-19. The Department of Health (DOH) here has trained them for the tasks ahead.

Feliciano and DOH-7 met with EOC officials and contact tracing teams to discuss coordination mechanisms and to address emerging issues and concerns in the field.

"Because we will have massive contact tracing, dadami ang isu-swab natin. Before, we only had five contact tracing teams, so talagang nagkaroon ng backlog. Bibilis ang sistema natin ngayon because of your presence. With each passing day na hindi tayo nakakapag-contact trace at swab, talagang mahirap ma-contain ang virus. Now, we have a fighting chance," Feliciano told the contact tracing teams.

Cebu City Councilor Joel Garganera, deputy chief implementer for operations of the IATF EOC-Cebu City, said that contact tracers and swabbers should develop good rapport with communities to produce timely and accurate data.

Garganera added that time was very vital, and contact tracers must give the swabbers the list of persons to be swabbed at the soonest possible time.

For his part, Interior and Local Government Assistant Secretary for Public Safety and Security Alexander Macario committed and promised to help the swabbers and contact tracers in case they encounter difficulties in dealing with barangay officials.

"If there are uncooperative barangay officials, file an incident report so we can issue them a show cause order," Macario stated

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