MANILA – The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) teams can finally take their swab tests to be cleared for practice, now that Metro Manila is once again placed under general community quarantine (GCQ).
The teams are scheduled to undergo swab testing for the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) on Thursday and Friday.
The three teams owned by the San Miguel Corp. will do their swab testing at the company’s headquarters in Mandaluyong, while the other nine clubs will have theirs at the Makati Medical Center.
“Pag walang problema ang resulta ng test (If there is no problem with the results of the tests), they’re free to start their training. They would have the go-signal to do so but they have to follow our guidelines and protocols,” PBA commissioner Willie Marcial said on Tuesday.
The teams were supposed to take their swab tests earlier this month but with the National Capital Region placed under the modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) until August 18, the scheduled testing was stalled.
Now that practices are set to resume, Marcial expressed hope that Metro Manila’s status would be relaxed further to a modified GCQ (MGCQ) so that the PBA could resume its season.
“Kung magtuloy-tuloy ang sitwasyon at makapag-scrimmage na ang mga teams, and then kung mapunta ang NCR sa MGCQ, pwede tayong matuloy sa October (If the situation continues and the teams have already done their scrimmages, and if the NCR would be placed under MGCQ, we can push through by October),” Marcial said.
On Monday, Duterte approved the recommendation of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases to place Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal back to the less restrictive GCQ from MECQ.
GCQ will also be imposed in Nueva Ecija, Batangas, and Quezon provinces, along with the cities of Iloilo, Cebu, Lapu-Lapu, Mandaue, and Talisay, and the municipalities of Minglanilla and Consolacion in Cebu province.
MGCQ will be implemented in the rest of the country until August 31.