Health authorities on Monday reeled off with a comprehensive mass coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) testing of a targeted 5,000 individuals identified as first-generation contacts of positive cases in this capital city of Negros Oriental.

Assistant Provincial Health Officer Dr. Liland Estacion, in an interview, said the comprehensive testing will run for two weeks, except Saturdays and Sundays, and targets 500 swab tests per day, as directed by the Department of Health in Region 7 (DOH-7).

Two teams are now deployed for the tests, one from the Provincial Health Office (PHO) and the other from the City Health Office, to meet the daily quota, Estacion said.

The first-generation contacts were previously identified by contact tracing teams and have been listed down, she noted.

No walk-ins are allowed and those who are not on the list are required to proceed to the PHO, she added.

“This is not mass testing but comprehensive testing, and solely for first-generation contacts of Covid positive patients so we can get a clear picture of the real situation in Dumaguete,” she said in mixed English and Cebuano.

This, Estacion noted, was ordered by the DOH-7 amid the surge of cases in Negros Oriental, with the capital city having the highest number of infections.

The DOH-7 has sent Universal Transport Medium (UTM) swab kits for use in this specific testing, she said, adding that the samples would be sent to Cebu City for laboratory examination.

Meanwhile, Estacion said the province is running low on Covid-19 vaccines as health teams in the different local government units (LGUs) and hospitals are fast-tracking its rollout.

“Our vaccines are almost consumed already but just this afternoon, there are LGUs who did not get their allocation so we gave them to other areas where vaccination is faster,” she said. “Perhaps some LGUs will still continue to administer the vaccines tomorrow, but so far, we have not received additional supply from the DOH”.

The last shipment received recently by Negros Oriental comprised 3,600 Sinovac vaccines, she noted.

Estacion is hopeful for a faster administration of vaccines so that more doses could be sent over to the province.

A total of 19,224 individuals in Negros Oriental have so far received the first and second doses of vaccines, she said, noting that 34,634 doses of AstraZeneca and Sinovac vaccines have been sent to the province.

Estacion said the province is now gearing up to move to the priority group A3 comprising adults with “controlled comorbidities” in the vaccination program. (PNA)