Only 4 out of over 5,000 tricycle drivers tested positive for COVID-19 in Marikina -mayor

Only four out of 5,465 tricycle drivers who were tested for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) were infected with the disease in Marikina City, Mayor Marcelino Teodoro said on Thursday.

Teodoro said these tricycle drivers had undergone the confirmatory PCR test, which is free and shouldered by the local government, at the Marikina Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory.

“Dalawa lang sa apat na tricycle drivers ang taga-Marikina. Iyong dalawa doon ay nakatira sa mga kalapit na mga bayan ng Marikina,” Teodoro said in a press release.

“Iyong mga nagpositibo, ang napansin namin, sila ay mga naninirahan sa boundary ng Marikina at may interaction sila outside the boundary," he explained.

Aside from tricycle drivers, Teodoro said a total of 4,321 workers from the city's shoe industry were also subjected to COVID-19 testing, of which only one tested positive.

The mayor said the local government also conducted COVID-19 tests for a total of 951 barangay employees, which include barangay tanods and barangay health workers. He said only one was confirmed to be positive for COVID-19.

A total of 1,997 city hall employees were also tested for the disease. Teodoro said six health workers were found to be infected with COVID-19.

The city mayor said those who tested positive were brought to a quarantine facility so that they can be isolated and be given the proper medication.

Teodoro vowed to continue conducting mass testing among his constituents as he is worried that the number of COVID cases would increase once Metro Manila is placed under general community quarantine.

"Mahalaga ang testing. Ito ay isang magaling na strategy na i-employ ng Marikina upang sa ganoon mag-plateau ang bilang ng COVID-19 cases dito sa City of Marikina," he said.

So far, Marikina City has 182 COVID-19 cases with 91 recoveries and 21 fatalities.—AOL, GMA News