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COVID-19 testing soon required for locally stranded persons —Dizon
By NICOLE-ANNE C. LAGRIMAS, GMA News Locally stranded individuals (LSI) will soon be required to undergo mandatory swab testing for COVID-19 before they can travel back to their provinces, an official said Thursday.
Testing czar Vince Dizon, deputy chief implementer of the national policy against COVID-19, said the mandatory PCR-based testing needs to be worked out in the coming days.
"Ito po ay para protektahan sila at ma-ensure na sila ay COVID-free, and at the same time, kailangan ding protektahan natin ang mga communities at mga probinsiya at LGU (local government unit) na patututunguhan nila," Dizon said at a Malacanang briefing.
The official said the National Task Force COVID-19 is organizing a task force that will take care of the needs of LSIs, including food and temporary shelter. He said they need to suspend the travel for LSIs pending the implementation of new protocols.
Dizon also said that the one million test kits purchased by the government that have arrived in the Philippines will boost the country's testing capacity.
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Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque earlier said the government was working to get stranded individuals tested for COVID-19.
Hundreds of people stranded in Metro Manila were transferred to the Villamor Airbase in Pasay City last week.
Vice President Leni Robredo has urged the government to organize its system for sending LSIs home after the death of a mother who had waited for days on a footbridge in the hopes of catching a bus ride from Pasay City to Bicol.—AOL, GMA News