ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider Rapid mass testing starts in Cebu, Mandaue, Lapu-Lapu cities

Rapid mass testing starts in Cebu, Mandaue, Lapu-Lapu cities

Published May 3, 2020 12:00 am
By Calvin Cordova CEBU CITY—Blood samples from almost 50,000 individuals will be taken as the rapid mass testing in the cities of Cebu, Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu starts Monday, May 4. The 10-day strategic rapid mass testing for the three cities is a campaign under the “Project Balik Buhay,” an initiative of the Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas, Department of Health, the local government units (LGUs) and the private sector. The start of the rapid mass testing comes on the heels of the rising number of cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Central Visayas. As of May 2, Region 7 already had 990 cases, with Cebu City recording the highest number with 875 cases. Lapu-Lapu has the second highest number of cases with 34, followed by Mandaue with 29. At least 27 cases have been reported in Cebu province, while Negros Oriental and Bohol have four and one, respectively. The Department of Health-Central Visayas (DOH 7) also reported that 17 repatriated overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), and three health workers have tested positive for the virus. Medical experts are backing the use of the Rapid Antibody-Based Diagnostic Test (RDT) as a conduit to Real Time - Polymerase Chain Reaction (rtPCR) testing in Cebu, Mandaue City and Lapu-Lapu. "In our fight against COVID-19, testing is an essential tool. PCR, being the gold standard will test the presence or absence of the virus, aiming to know if a person is infected. The rapid antibody test, on the other hand, as the name implies, aims to test for the antibodies, whose aim is to establish that a person has been exposed to an infected individual or is presently with the infection, without knowing it. This is especially true for those who don’t manifest any symptoms at all," said Dr. Mary Jean Loreche, chief pathologist of DOH 7. Loreche explained that while rt-PCR will test the presence or absence of the SARS-CoV 2, both tests were not fool-proof. Regional Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit (RESU) 7 Epidemiologist Dr. Juanito Zuasola said that "the usefulness and significance of RDT is when the test results are placed in the proper perspective." "The test results from both tools can now help further in addressing which group/class of persons will be placed in the isolation / quarantine facilities," said Dr. Zuasola. Dr. Jaime Bernadas. DOH 7 regional director, said the conduct of the RDT mass testing will help authorities decide whether or not to pursue a downgrade of community quarantine after May 15. "These test results can now be used to help in mapping populations and areas in the locality that can serve to guide the decision makers into checking the effectiveness or in setting up control measures and even modifying these measures in pursuing decisions for community quarantine,” added Bernadas
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.