Supreme Court workers undergo Covid-19 rapid testing

In a statement, the SC Public Information Office said among those who underwent testing are the skeleton staff members or employees required to be physically present on the court’s grounds during the modified enhanced community quarantine. (File Photo By Aerous – Own work/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0)

MANILA – Officials and workers of the Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday underwent rapid testing for the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).

In a statement, the SC Public Information Office said among those who underwent testing are the skeleton staff members or employees required to be physically present on the court’s grounds during the modified enhanced community quarantine.

The test was conducted in close coordination with the Office of the Mayor of Manila as well as other government agencies.

“The rapid testing is the Court’s way of complementing the efforts of the government to curb the spread of the pandemic and to flatten the curve,” said Chief Justice Diosdado Peralta, who inspected medical tents set up at the SC compound in Padre Faura, Manila.

Last March, Peralta had himself tested upon the recommendation of his doctors after manifesting symptoms of the disease a few days after he returned from the Netherlands. He has tested negative.

Peralta said most court workers and employees will undergo rapid testing once the SC resumes full operations.

The SC has more than 20 medical staff members composed of physicians, nurses, and pharmacists who conducted rapid testing.

The High Court has also installed two disinfection chambers located at the lobby of its Main Building and Centennial Building.

The chambers are equipped with a non-contact infrared temperature scanner, an automatic hand sanitizer dispenser, and an ultrasonic atomization misting system.