The Aboitiz Group pledged support to the Office of the Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship and private sector-led Project ARK (Antibody Rapid Test Kits) COVID-19, along with more than a hundred companies in preparation for the gradual lifting of the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) by May 15 when most employees are expected to return to work.

Project ARK is a mass screening project using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and antibody rapid testing aligned with DOH guidelines to be applied for both workforce and the general population at the barangay level. To date, the project has raised one million test kits, according to Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship and Go Negosyo founder Joey Concepcion.

The Manila City government placed Sampaloc under a “hard lockdown” from April 23 to 25, shutting down the district for disease surveillance, rapid risk assessment, and testing operations amid the COVID-19 crisis.

Within the two-day testing period, Project ARK was able to identify and isolate 31 presumptive COVID-19 patients, of whom 27 had mild symptoms while four had no symptoms at all.

The 31 patients were sent to the Delpan quarantine facility for PCR testing. Contact tracing has also been initiated by the Manila LGU for the patients.

With the success of the pilot testing, Manila Mayor Isko Moreno moved to expand the mass testing to the rest of the city’s districts.

Project ARK‘s initiative in Sampaloc, Manila was made possible through donor Angkas and the medical teams of the Manila City Health Office and the Ospital ng Sampaloc, with the Aboitiz Group remotely overseeing project implementation.

The Aboitiz Group continues to contribute to the country’s COVID-19 response efforts. To date, the Aboitiz Group has extended about P400 million in monetary and in-kind assistance to serve affected communities as well as medical and government frontliners nationwide. This excludes various payments waived, reduced, extended, or restructured to help customers cope with the impact of COVID-19.