BCDA

As businesses resume, National Action Plan Against COVID-19 Deputy Chief Implementer Vince Dizon on Wednesday underscored the importance of testing for employees, including non-medical frontliners, to keep the economy open.  

“We need to be more aggressive in safeguarding the health of all citizens while we keep our economy moving. And testing for employees especially non-medical frontliners, remains crucial to this. Our goal is to save lives and to save our economy,” Dizon said.

National Action Plan Against COVID-19 Chief Implementer Secretary Carlito Galvez, Jr. called for everyone to work together in controlling the spread of COVID-19 as he highlighted the urgent need to not only safely reopen various sectors, but more importantly, keep the economy open.

“Though the lockdown bought us time to increase public health capacity, we now must face the challenge of reopening the economy,” Galvez said in a meeting with the private sector.

The COVID-19 national task force aims to conduct one million tests by July, says National Action Plan Against COVID-19 Deputy Chief Implementer Vince Dizon on Thursday, June 25, following the arrival of an initial 1.05 million test kits.

“Meron tayong bagong sini-set na goal. Dahil dumating na po ang napakaraming [testing] supply, ang goal po natin para magamit ang mga test na ‘yan at mabigyang benepisyo ang ating mga kababayan, ay by July dapat one million tests na tayo,” Dizon said.

A total of 151 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) were sent home Saturday, June 20, after recovering from COVID-19 at the We Heal As One Center-Philippine Arena.

The COVID-19 survivors were seafarers and land-based OFWs from the Middle East and United Kingdom who were repatriated due to the pandemic.

These OFWs stayed at the We Heal As One Center-Philippine Arena in Bulacan, which has a 300-bed capacity. We Heal As One Centers were put up by the government and the private sector for COVID-19 patients with mild and no symptoms.

Media personnel who continue their service to the public despite the risk of COVID-19 should be covered by the government’s expanded targeted testing, National Action Plan Against COVID-19 Deputy Chief Implementer Vince Dizon said Friday.

In a press conference held at the Philippine Red Cross Molecular Laboratory in Clark, Pampanga with Senator Richard Gordon, Dizon said the Department of Health (DOH) should identify the media as “frontliners.”

Senator Richard Gordon visited Friday, June 19, the Philippine Red Cross' first molecular laboratory in Clark, Pampanga which will be used in processing COVID-19 tests.