{"id":255697,"date":"2020-05-21T23:40:26","date_gmt":"2020-05-22T03:40:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=255697"},"modified":"2020-05-21T23:40:26","modified_gmt":"2020-05-22T03:40:26","slug":"covid-19-testing-of-returning-workers-not-mandatory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2020\/05\/21\/covid-19-testing-of-returning-workers-not-mandatory\/","title":{"rendered":"Covid-19 testing of returning workers not mandatory"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
FILE: Swab test booths at Enderun Tent in Taguig City (Photo courtesy of NTF vs. Covid-19 via PNA)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MANILA<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Returning workers must not be compelled to undergo rapid testing for coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), Malaca\u00f1ang said on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque made the statement following reports that local government units (LGUs) are requiring employees to undergo a rapid test for Covid-19 before they can report for work.<\/p>\n

In a virtual presser aired on state-run PTV-4, Roque deemed it unacceptable for LGUs to impose mandatory Covid-19 testing for returning workers.<\/p>\n

\u201cHindi po tama na \u2018yung mga<\/em>\u00a0LGUs\u00a0ay nagri-<\/em>require\u00a0ng<\/em>\u00a0rapid testing\u00a0kasi hindi naman po talaga<\/em>\u00a0requirement\u00a0iyan<\/em>\u00a0(It is not right for LGUs to require [mandatory] rapid testing because that is not a requirement). That must be done voluntarily,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Roque said Covid-19 testing should not be a precondition for employees who are now allowed to resume work.<\/p>\n

He said the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) has been coordinating with LGUs to remind them that workers must not be forced to undergo rapid testing for Covid-19.<\/p>\n

\u201cNakikipag-ugnayan po ang<\/em>\u00a0DILG\u00a0doon sa mga<\/em>\u00a0LGUs\u00a0na nag-i<\/em>-impose\u00a0ng<\/em>\u00a0rapid test\u00a0at sinasabi na po nila, hindi kayo dapat mag<\/em>-require\u00a0ng ganyan<\/em>\u00a0(The DILG is coordinating with LGUs that are imposing mandatory rapid test and is telling them that they should not make such a requirement),\u201d Roque said.<\/p>\n

Employers may test their workers for Covid-19, according to the interim guidelines on workplace prevention and control of the disease earlier released by the departments of labor and trade.<\/p>\n

He said the government would welcome any move by employers who would volunteer to shoulder the costs of Covid-19 testing of their employees.<\/p>\n

\u201cKung \u2018yung mga<\/em>\u00a0employers\u00a0ay sila na ‘yung magbibigay at magbabayad ng<\/em>\u00a0rapid test\u00a0o \u2018di naman kaya ay<\/em>\u00a0(reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction [RT-PCR]) test,\u00a0hindi po natin sila pinipigilan. Ang hindi po pupwede ay mag-require ng<\/em>\u00a0test\u00a0para ikaw ay makabalik sa trabaho<\/em>\u00a0(If employers pay for the rapid test or RT-PCR test [of their workers], we will not stop them. What is not allowed is to require workers to undergo a test before they can report for work),\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

RT-PCR tests are more accurate in detecting Covid-19 than rapid tests.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MANILA\u00a0\u2013 Returning workers must not be compelled to undergo rapid testing for coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), Malaca\u00f1ang said on Thursday. …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":254270,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-255697","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-news-ph","mauthors-ruth-abbey-gita-carlos","mauthors-philippine-news-agency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255697","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=255697"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255697\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":255703,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255697\/revisions\/255703"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/254270"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=255697"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=255697"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=255697"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}