By Vanne Elaine Terrazola
Senator Sherwin Gatchalian announced on Wednesday that he will subject himself and his staff to self-quarantine after one of the resource persons in a recent Senate hearing reportedly tested positive for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
Sen. Sherwin T. Gatchalian
(Senate of the Philippines / MANILA BULLETIN)
Gatchalian announced this in a statement sent to media Wednesday night.
"I have recently been informed that a resource person who attended the hearing of the Committee on Basic Education, Arts and Culture last March 5, 2020, which I chair, has tested positive for COVID-19," he wrote.
"Though I am asymptomatic and feel healthy, I will follow government-set protocols on such cases and go into self-quarantine immediately, given that I interacted with the said individual during that committee hearing," he added.
The senator said he also instructed his staff to undergo self-quarantine, "especially those who had direct contact with the said person too."
The basis education committee's hearing last March 5 discussed the complementary roles of public and private institutions in the Philippines' education system, which was attended by officials of the Department of Education, Department of Finance, and National Economic and Development Authority, among other government agencies.
Teachers and officials from some public schools and universities, as well as members of non-government organizations were also in the hearing.
Information on the resource person reportedly infected with the new coronavirus strain was not divulged to media.