Project ARK completes 4,000 tests

MANILA, Philippines — Private sector initiative Project Antibody Rapid test Kit (ARK) has completed over 4,000 tests for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in partnership with the local governments of Las Piñas, Makati and Taguig.

In a statement yesterday, Project ARK, led by Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship and Go Negosyo founder Joey Concepcion, said a total of 4,150 individuals were screened.

Results in the three cities showed there are fewer infections and the number of cases in these particular areas has been contained as Makati and Taguig each had one positive case and Las Piñas had three.

A total of 1,480 individuals were tested in Las Piñas and the partial result showed 1,343 were asymptomatic negative and nine were symptomatic negative.

Three tested asymptomatic IgM positive, two were asymptomatic igG positive or had the virus but were able to recover and build antibodies and three were asymptomatic IgG/IgM.

Of the 1,208 individuals screened in Makati, 1,171 were asymptomatic negative, one tested asymptomatic IgM positive, seven were asymptomatic igG positive and three were asymptomatic IgG/IgM.

As for Taguig, 1,462 individuals were tested and out of the total, 1,408 were asymptomatic negative. Four tested asymptomatic IgM positive, 43 were asymptomatic igG positive and seven were asymptomatic IgG/IgM.

Individuals presumed positive via rapid tests were directed to appropriate hospital facilities for a complimentary reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction swab testing.

Makati City Mayor Abigail Binay said the city is looking forward to working again with Project ARK on pooled testing.

Project ARK is currently conducting a research on pooled testing to help increase testing capacity and bring down the costs of tests. Pooled testing involves having swab samples of multiple individuals put into a single PCR test.

For her part, Las Piñas City Mayor Imelda Aguilar said the testing kits from Project ARK expand the targeted testing for residents of the city.

To date, Project ARK has generated more than 1.3 million rapid test kits from over 350 partner companies.

The initiative has also activated and automated a total of 11 hospitals through donations of PCR machines for an additional 12,000 daily testing capacity.