BCDA mass tests in Baguio reveal 41 Covid-19 positive

BAGUIO CITY – The three-day expanded testing from Feb. 1 to 3 here yielded 41 positive Covid-19 cases or a positivity rate of 1.9 percent, an official of the city said on Monday. 

Dr. Rowena Galpo, City Health Services Office chief, said the testing was conducted by the Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA) for the fourth time since the pandemic started in 2020.
    She said 3,250 people availed of free polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing in two locations here -- Melvin Jones grandstand at Burnham Park and at Camp John Hay wherein a total of 41 were found to be Covid-19 positive.

At Melvin Jones, there were 795 tested on Feb. 1; 969 on Feb. 2; 1,127 on Feb. 3; while 368 were tested at Camp John Hay on Feb. 3.

The city's Covid-19 tracker shows that as of Feb. 7, Baguio has conducted a total of 116,130 PCR tests since the start of the pandemic in 2020.

Baguio City has a population of 370,000.

Mayor Benjamin Magalong said they will exert effort to look for donors of PCR test kits to allow them to continue with the expanded testing.

"Through the expanded testing, we will be able to know the real situation that will guide us in our actions and decisions," Magalong said.

He said the city continues to ramp up its testing capacity as one of the established strategies to keep track on the transmission of the virus. – Liza Agoot/ PNA