THE Manila government launched its third walk-in testing facility for the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) on Wednesday to expand its free testing in the city.
Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso attended the launch at the Justice Jose Abad Santos General Hospital in Numancia Street in Binondo district.
“We should continue allotting our remaining resources to fight Covid-19,” Domagoso said after the ribbon-cutting.
“This project is part of our continuous effort to provide accessible, efficient, and free mass testing in the city,” he added.
Manila offers free testing for residents and non-locals via their walk-in, drive-through, and mobile van facilities.
The two other walk-in testing centers are at the Ospital ng Sampaloc and Gat Andres Bonifacio Memorial Medical Center.
Manila also has two drive-through testing facilities at the Andres Bonifacio Monument and Quirino Grandstand.
The city government also deployed two mobile testing trucks to be placed in areas with high cases of the coronavirus.
To date, about 8,458 people have availed the drive-through testing; 895 through walk-ins; and 400 via mobile testing trucks.
Four new serologic testing equipment are being used in these facilities, which could take 89,600 tests a month.
The city government said it purchased another serology machine which could conduct over 110,000 tests. (J.E. Mendoza, TMT)