Manila Bulletin
Philippines
Private companies in Marikina City asked to subject employees to rapid mass testing before work resumes under MECQ
Philippines
Private companies in Marikina City asked to subject employees to rapid mass testing before work resumes under MECQ
Private companies in Marikina City asked to subject employees to rapid mass testing before work resumes under MECQ
Published May 15, 2020 12:00 am
By Jhon Aldrin Casinas
As it prepares for the shift toward a modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ), Marikina City Mayor Marcelino Teodoro ordered that employees of private companies in the city have to undergo rapid mass testing before they return to work.
Marikina City Mayor Marcy Teodoro oversees the rapid testing conducted on employees of shoe manufacturer C-Point on Friday. (MARIKINA LGU / MANILA BULLETIN)
Teodoro noted that it is important to test employees before returning to work to prevent the transmission of coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) in the workplace, as well as ensure the safety of all workers.
“We want to start economic activity after almost two months that our factories have been shut down because of ECQ,” he said in a statement.
“In its entirety, what we are looking at here is the balance of safety, health aspect, and economic activity,” he added.
With the opening of select sectors following the transition to MECQ, Teodoro said a lot will change in the manufacturing industry—particularly the industry of shoemaking in Marikina.
According to the local government, the Marikina shoe industry currently employs around 6,000 workers, while there are around 8,000 industrial workers in the city.
“There are also many changes in the factories. We will have reconfiguration in the factories. For example, the entry of people will become unidirectional. They will have to follow the right way so that cross contamination will be avoided,” Teodoro said.
He said mass testing will be regularly conducted in the coming days, adding that the local government will also conduct a regular “random testing by sampling” to ensure that workplaces are safe.
“Realistically, we have a lot to test. Thousands. And time is of essence, our test needs to be fast. So we decided to come up with a strategy to employ rapid testing for the meantime,” the mayor explained.
He said those who will test positive in the rapid test will be immediately brought to a quarantine facility so that they can be isolated and given supportive treatment so that their health will not deteriorate.
They will also undergo a confirmatory test using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test.
As of May 15, Friday, Teodoro said the local government conducted testing using rapid test kits to nearly 1,000 employees of three companies in Marikina, namely the shoe manufacturer C-Point, Philip Morris Fortune Tobacco Corp. (PMFTC), Inc., and Armscor Global Defense, Inc.
Marikina City Mayor Marcy Teodoro oversees the rapid testing conducted on employees of shoe manufacturer C-Point on Friday. (MARIKINA LGU / MANILA BULLETIN)
Teodoro noted that it is important to test employees before returning to work to prevent the transmission of coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) in the workplace, as well as ensure the safety of all workers.
“We want to start economic activity after almost two months that our factories have been shut down because of ECQ,” he said in a statement.
“In its entirety, what we are looking at here is the balance of safety, health aspect, and economic activity,” he added.
With the opening of select sectors following the transition to MECQ, Teodoro said a lot will change in the manufacturing industry—particularly the industry of shoemaking in Marikina.
According to the local government, the Marikina shoe industry currently employs around 6,000 workers, while there are around 8,000 industrial workers in the city.
“There are also many changes in the factories. We will have reconfiguration in the factories. For example, the entry of people will become unidirectional. They will have to follow the right way so that cross contamination will be avoided,” Teodoro said.
He said mass testing will be regularly conducted in the coming days, adding that the local government will also conduct a regular “random testing by sampling” to ensure that workplaces are safe.
“Realistically, we have a lot to test. Thousands. And time is of essence, our test needs to be fast. So we decided to come up with a strategy to employ rapid testing for the meantime,” the mayor explained.
He said those who will test positive in the rapid test will be immediately brought to a quarantine facility so that they can be isolated and given supportive treatment so that their health will not deteriorate.
They will also undergo a confirmatory test using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test.
As of May 15, Friday, Teodoro said the local government conducted testing using rapid test kits to nearly 1,000 employees of three companies in Marikina, namely the shoe manufacturer C-Point, Philip Morris Fortune Tobacco Corp. (PMFTC), Inc., and Armscor Global Defense, Inc.