Stopping the Spread
USAID makes COVID-19 testing more accessible for Filipinos
As Mang Leonardo Cabral drove his taxi through the congested streets of Metro Manila, Philippines, his mind wandered to the glistening blue waters, white-sand beaches, and homemade delicacies of his home province of Pangasinan. More than anything though, he missed his loved ones who were still there.
In June 2021, after enduring more than a year of lockdowns in Quezon City, the largest city in the National Capital Region, Mang Leonardo and his family eagerly awaited the opportunity to return home to Pangasinan, more than 200 kilometers north of Metro Manila. Mang Leonardo, a 63-year-old taxi driver, had already received a COVID-19 vaccine, but to help ensure he wouldn’t bring the virus to his hometown, he needed to get tested first.
“The local government requires us to be tested before entering the province,” he explained. “We would not want to bring the disease to our hometown.”
So, early one Tuesday morning, Mang Leonardo and his family trooped to the health center of Barangay Holy Spirit, Quezon City, a USAID-supported clinic providing free COVID-19 tests. USAID has partnered with Quezon City to make COVID-19 testing more accessible. After showing a text message confirmation of their appointment, the Cabral family completed a pre-test screening and proceeded to the swab booths.
“Once we have the results of our COVID-19 tests, we can finally go home to Pangasinan,” said Vilma, Mang Leonardo’s wife. Both Mang Leonardo and Vilma had been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, but getting tested helped reassure them that they were keeping their loved ones as safe as they could during their visit.
During August and September of 2021, Quezon City recorded some of the highest COVID-19 cases in the country, comprising around 18% of cases in the National Capital Region in August.
To support the country’s COVID-19 response, USAID partnered with the Quezon City Health Department to establish four new community-based testing centers that offer free and convenient COVID-19 testing in vulnerable communities, including the clinic where the Cabral family received their tests.
USAID helped hire and train medical technologists and assistants, procure testing kits, and organize swab booths, informational materials, and client flow guidance in the new testing centers.
Dr. Rolando Cruz, chief of Quezon City’s Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit, said the new testing centers helped the city reduce the spread of COVID-19. “We need to diagnose people more quickly so we can treat them, and that’s where community-based testing really helps,” he said.
Grateful for the support, Dr. Cruz is eager to expand this partnership that has helped reduce the spread of COVID-19. “With USAID’s help, we increased personnel at community-based testing sites and were able to assign our other health care workers to other interventions. Next, with USAID’s help, we’ll be piloting mobile testing,” he said.
Mang Leonardo and his family are just a few of the city’s residents taking advantage of the free COVID-19 tests in the new testing centers. Most of those who get tested are close contacts of a COVID-positive case, those returning to work, or traveling. In August, these four testing centers provided 17% of Quezon City’s testing services.
“It used to be just me and one police nurse that did everything for testing here in our village, and it was quite difficult to manage,” said Kimberly Aquino, the community-based testing manager of Barangay Holy Spirit. “With the two USAID-hired medical technologists fully trained to do swabbing, the police nurse is now back in the field, and I can now just do the pre-swab interviews and focus on monitoring any positive cases.”
In addition to helping Quezon City residents access free and convenient COVID-19 testing, USAID supports contact tracing and testing efforts in the cities of Davao and Zamboanga on the southern island of Mindanao, which is experiencing a surge in COVID-19 cases.
At five testing sites in Mindanao and the three sites in Luzon, USAID assistance helped reduce the time needed to deliver COVID-19 specimens to labs from more than three days to just a few hours so that patients can get their results much faster. Across the country, USAID helped increase the number of accredited labs from just one to over 100. These 100 laboratories collectively conduct more than 50,000 tests daily.
These efforts have helped make COVID-19 testing more accessible to Filipino families and supported the Philippine Government’s efforts to curb the virus’s transmission in the most vulnerable communities. For Mang Leonardo and his family, the impact has been more personal. They were finally able to return home safely, with greater reassurance that they would not contribute to the spread of COVID-19 in their community.
About the Authors
Christina Butler is a Development Outreach and Communications Writer at USAID/Philippines. Rosana Ombao is a Communications and Knowledge Management Specialist for USAID’s ReachHealth Project.
