Mayor Marc Brian Lim has donated his eight-month salary to buy 1,000 units of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) rapid anti-body test kits (RATK) for patients under investigation (PUIs) and persons under monitoring (PUMs) here.

The city’s Public Information Office said Lim’s move made him the first elected official in Pangasinan to donate his salary in the fight against Covid-19.

“The test kits, which have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration, are sold commercially at about PHP1,000 each costing Mayor Lim about PHP1 million, the equivalent of his salary for eight months,” the PIO in a statement posted on its Facebook page on Wednesday.

In an interview, Lim said he decided to use his personal money because under Circular No. 2020-0160 of the Department of Health (DOH), no public funds should be used to buy the rapid test kits.

According to the DOH, the RATK can only detect the presence of antibodies produced by a person to fight the virus and can only be used as an additional tool after a PUI has completed the 14-day quarantine and is discharged from a health facility.

“Even if the RATK results are not confirmatory, the city government will be better equipped in making strategic decisions and exercising other precautionary health measures in dealing with patients pending the outcome of test results from the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) or other accredited Covid-19 testing facilities,” he said.

Under the DOH guidelines, patients who tested positive for Covid-19 and those who tested negative but symptomatic must be isolated.

As of this posting, Dagupan City has 42 PUIs. Four of them are being treated in different hospitals in the city while 11 of them have been discharged.

Only 9 PUIs are completing their 14-day home quarantine while 15 have already completed it.

However, four PUIs have died while waiting for their Covid-19 test results. (PNA)