Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso on Wednesday led the opening of Manila’s drive-thru coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) testing center in front of the Andres Bonifacio Monument beside the City Hall.

In a Facebook post, Domagoso said the Manila Health Department (MHD) will use the newly-acquired Covid-19 serology testing machine.

“Kukuha ang MHD ng mga blood samples ng mga dadaan sa drive-thru at ipoproseso ito sa mga bagong biling Covid-19 serology testing machines (The MHD will collect blood samples from those who will pass by the drive-thru, and these will be processed in our Covid-19 serology testing machines),” Domagoso said.

He said it will only take five minutes to be tested and test results will be out “within 24 hours”.

The drive-thru Covid-19 testing center will be open to residents and non-residents of Manila, he added.

Domagoso said the city government of Manila has been aggressive in its campaign to help the national government contain the spread of the coronavirus through massive testing.

He said the Covid-19 serology testing machine, which can process up to 50 tests per hour, is better than the rapid test kits because “these have an accuracy of 99.6 percent for specificity and 100 percent for sensitivity”.

Manila now has three Covid-19 serology test machines and is planning to buy another machine to eventual increase its testing capacity to 89,600 tests per month, he added.

The drive-thru testing center will be provided for free to motorists from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. from Monday to Friday.

Domagoso said anyone who wishes to avail of the services needs to fill up a form and present a valid identification card.

Those who have no vehicles will not be accommodated in the drive-thru testing center but will be referred to the Gat Andres Bonifacio Memorial Medical Center, Ospital ng Sampaloc, Ospital ng Maynila, or any health center near their residence. (PNA)