Red Cross lauds partner LGU

Gordon stressed that the efforts of Mandaluyong City in this area is worthy of emulation by other local government units

The Philippine Red Cross (PRC) lauded the Mandaluyong City government for being its partner local government unit with the most number of individuals submitted for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) testing.

In a letter to Mayor Menchie Abalos, PRC chairman and CEO Richard Gordon said the efforts of the city government in testing individuals “shows the high degree of dedication and commitment that you (Abalos) give to secure the safety of your people.”

Gordon also stressed that the efforts of Mandaluyong City in this area are worthy of emulation by other local government units.

Records from the City Health Office reported that individuals tested for COVID-19 in Mandaluyong City has reached 5,693, wherein 5,176 or 91 percent of the total was forwarded by the city government to PRC and the remaining 517 or nine percent to other laboratories. Even with the already high number of tested individuals, the city government continues to conduct RT-PCR confirmatory tests of individuals.

Abalos admitted there’s no easy way to detect the virus except if the RT-PCR (reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction) test is done to an individual.

“It’s the gold standard test that the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Department of Health (DoH) approve, which is one of the reasons why we partnered with PRC. The proximity of their molecular lab is also an advantage to us,” the mayor said.

Aside from the ongoing efforts to contain the spread of the virus in the city, the local government is also giving aid to almost 839 families who were affected by incidents of fire that occurred at Block 37 and 38 on 1 June, and 355 families from Block 30 UBAC Compound on 6 June.

Temporary shelters were immediately assigned and modular tents were set up by the city government to house the affected families who were also provided with hot meals on a daily basis.

Abalos personally distributed groceries to each family, as well as blankets, sleeping mats and

new clothes.