Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 9) – The business sector, through Project Antibody Rapid Test Kits, also known as Project ARK, is helping government hospitals expand COVID-19 testing nationwide.
Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship and Go Negosyo Founder Joey Concepcion on Saturday led the virtual signing of an agreement between Go Negosyo and six medical centers, which will receive the Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) machines, under the Project ARK-PCR initiative.
“With the donated RT-PCR machines from the private sector, these six government hospitals will be able to ramp up mass testing in their respective communities,” Concepcion said.
The Department of Health considers RT-PCR testing as the “gold standard test,” because it gives a definitive diagnosis for COVID-19 patients.
The six government hospitals joining the initiative are the Philippine Children’s Medical Center and Quirino Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City, Dr. Jose N. Rodriguez Memorial Hospital in Caloocan, Central Visayas Tbrl Molecular Lab for Covid 19 Chd 7, Zamboanga City Medical Center and Perpetual Hospital Las Piñas.
Former Health Secretary and now Iloilo Rep. Janette Garin, who also serves as Private Sector Chief Implementer for the ARK-PCR initiative, said that partner hospitals were selected based on their location, willingness of the medical chief, and burden of COVID-19 expected in their areas.
“This is just the first step, the first batch,” Concepcion said. “More companies and corporations are committing to help in the next roll out.”
Concepcion added that through this initiative, the RT-PCR testing capacity of the country will be boosted by 7,000 swab tests per day.
“Ideally, we should be looking at 30,000 to 40,000 RT-PCR tests daily,” Concepcion said. “The more we test, the more visibility we gain. This is key to winning the war.”
Concepcion clarified that Project ARK will also continue their initiative to provide rapid test kits to local governments to boost COVID-19 testing at the barangay level.
As of Saturday, Project ARK has generated 1,020,252 rapid test kits from 180 companies, of which 140,480 will be donated to barangays. They are now working with the local governments of Antipolo, Batangas, Quezon City, Pasig, Taguig, and Makati to bring mass testing down to the community level.
“We need both rapid testing and RT-PCR testing to make everything more efficient, and to give us a better view of the situation,” Concepcion said.
Meanwhile, when asked if businesses are prepared for the possible lifting of the enhanced community quarantine after May 15, business leaders shared the different preparations they have made in anticipation of the re-start of operations, among them testing their employees.
“I think everyone wants to see the GCQ (general community quarantine) happen,” Concepcion said. “I hope they really consider opening up the economy.”
“We need to move forward, it’s going to be close to two months of lockdown and the fear of trying something different is always there, but I think we’ll be ready,” Concepcion added.
Private sector donors taking part in Project ARK initiatives include Ayala Corporation, SM Investments Corporation, Federation of Filipino Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce, RFM Corporation, Global Aseana Land Development Corporation, Uratex, Jollibee Foundation, Lloyd Laboratories, Bounty Fresh, Wilcon Depot, Angkas, and the Aboitiz Group, while LBC Express Holdings will serve as the logistics partner for the ARK-PCR initiative.
