Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 29) — Rapid test results showed that nearly half of the frontline Immigration officers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport are free of COVID-19, an official said Wednesday.
“A total of 206 immigration officers underwent the rapid mass testing on Tuesday at the NAIA Terminal 3 building, and thankfully all tested negative,” BI Medical Section Chief Marites Ambray said in a statement.
The bureau said it has a total of 500 personnel deployed at NAIA. The rest of the frontline immigration staff will also be tested for COVID-19, it added.
The BI said 150 frontliners and ‘at-risk’ employees at the BI main office and in seaports have undergone the same test, and were also found to be free of the infectious disease.
At risk groups include the elderly, and those with underlying medical conditions.
The BI earlier announced it has procured hundreds of personal protective equipment for its frontliners.
Immigration chief Jaime Morente also directed the bureau’s COVID-19 task force and medical team to be “on call 24 hours a day so they can promptly respond to health queries and emergencies.”
The Department of Health does not recommend using rapid test to determine whether a person is infected, as it may give inaccurate results.
DOH prefers polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based test, which it considers as “the gold standard” for coronavirus testing because it can detect the actual presence of the virus, even when the patient is asymptomatic or not showing any symptoms.
