Kalinga works out possibility of mass testing this month

Tabuk City, Kalinga – Due to the increasing Covid-19 cases in the province, an Aggressive Community Testing (ACT) is planned to be conducted on February 17-20, 2021.

During the Kapihan sa Baguio held Wednesday, February 10, 2021, DOH-CAR Diretor Ruby Constantino said the sudden increase of cases which transpired in Bontoc, Mountain Province is now being observed in Kalinga, particularly in Tabuk City which urged them to conduct said activity.

The only difference, she said, is that the cases in the province is not solely emanating from the city but also from other municipalities which include Lubuagan, Pasil and Tinglayan.

The rise in cases is reportedly due to non-observance of minimum public health standards, free movement of individuals from one municipality to another and checkpoints in some borders are not 24/7.

“ Yung nakikita natin sa Tabuk City, yun ang nakita natin sa Bontoc na biglang taas so we might as well do an aggressive testing sa Tabuk City which is willing naman si Mayor (Darwin) Estranero kasi baka mamaya, meron din tayong UK variant,” Constantino said.

When asked on the target number of individuals to undergo said test, Constantino said that they are still coordinating with LGUs to determine in what barangays they will conduct the activity and how many individuals targeted to be swab tested will be.

“Yung team namin sa Kalinga, they will be coordinating with LGUs, sinong barangay at saka ilan per day ang itatarget doon,” she said.

Dra. Bernadette Andaya of DOH-Kalinga during the virtual PIATF held yesterday as reported by the Provincial Information Office of Kalinga mentioned the team organized by the Center of Health- Cordillera will not only conduct ACT in the city but also in a municipality which is still to be identified by the Provincial Health Office.

As of February 10, 2021 per DOH-Cordillera data, Kalinga has 243 active cases, highest among provinces in the region.