First drive- and walk-thru COVID testing center to open in Cebu City

Residents of Cebu City and other neighboring areas can start availing of free coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) test beginning Friday, July 24, at a drive- and walk-thru screening facility at the Central Visayas’ Regional Hospital - Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center.

“We want the community to get tested as well,” said VSMMC spokesperson Atty. Rey Panugaling.

The hospital will use RT- PCR test on swab samples that will be taken.

The testing center will be open Monday to Friday, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

However, residents need to sign up first through https://bit.ly/drivethrutesting and submit the required documents. They will be assigned a schedule upon registration.

Results of the swab test will be emailed to them within 3-4 working days.

The barangay will be informed once a client tests positive, and will launch contact tracing. It will also evaluate if the patient needs to be admitted to a hospital or brought to an isolation facility.

“Although it will not lower down the cases, it will help us locate areas with possible infection,” said Dr. Mary Jean Loreche, spokesperson of the Department of Health in Central Visayas.

Meanwhile, the Cebu City Police Office started training barangay volunteers to be part of the existing contact tracing teams.

“They will be the first ones to locate the first generation contacts before PNP (Philippine National Police), BFP (Bureau of Fire Protection) and city health will visit the area,” said CCPO Director Josefino Ligan.

The Central Visayas region has 7,069 active cases of as Wednesday, based on data from DOH-7. Cebu City still logs the highest number of active cases with 3,267.