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MANILA - The City of Manila is eyeing free COVID-19 tests for students who will be attending face-to-face classes, Mayor Isko Moreno said Friday.

The city has 3 RT-PCR machines and 2 laboratories, which can handle the demand for swab tests, said Moreno.

"We can offer regularly para magkaroon sila ng (so they will have) peace of mind. We can submit them to swab testing and it can be available for free so as not to add cost to the students," he told ANC's Headstart.

The local government of Manila approved Wednesday the University of Santo Tomas' proposal to hold limited face-to-face classes for medical and allied health programs.

• UST allowed to hold limited face-to-face classes for medical, allied health courses
• Protocols para sa UST students na magbabalik-eskuwela nakalatag na

UST has laid out protocols for the reopening of classes, including reduced occupancy capacity, crowd management, and random inspection by the local government, said Moreno.

"The nitty-gritty are in place, and all we have to do is to trust the institution. I think they are responsible enough to know all these things," he said.

Moreno said UST is the only school so far to seek permission from the local government, but he is hopeful the institution will be a "good symbol" of how face-to-face classes may be restarted.

He said the city welcomes applications from other institutions offering medicine courses, including smaller nursing schools.

"Malamang sa hindi papayagan namin," he said.

(We will likely allow them.)

Recently, face-to-face classes in University of the Philippines-Manila, Our Lady of Fatima University-Valenzuela, and Ateneo de Manila University were also approved.

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