The House of Representatives in Batasan Hills, Quezon City has recorded its 44th confirmed case of COVID-19.
In an advisory sent to House reporters Sunday afternoon, Secretary General Jose Luis Montales bared that an employee from the Plenary Support Service has tested positive for COVID-19.
"She was a close contact of our confirmed case from the Committee on Rules. She reported for work on August 3 to 5. Contact tracing is ongoing," Montales said.
The number of COVID infections among House members (congressmen) and employees have practically doubled since the start of the second regular session last July 27. As of July 26, there were only 22 recorded cases in the House.
This means that the next 22 infections have only come within the last 21 days.
The 44 cases include Senior Citizens Party List Rep. Jun Datol, who was belatedly reported to have contracted COVID-19 before his sudden death last August 10.
"Yes, the total includes Cong Datol," Montales confirmed to reporters in a separate message. This was the first time that Montales explicitly acknowledged Datol's inclusion in the running total of positive cases.
The 71-year-old solon had been actively participating in the mixed live and virtual sessions as well as hearings at the House plenary the past few weeks.
At least four other congressmen have been infected with the dreaded disease--Deputy Speakers Johnny Pimentel (Surigao del Sur) and Mujiv Hataman (Basilan), and Reps. Samier Tan (Sulu) and Henry Villarica (Bulacan).
Sessions at the Lower Chamber are usually held only thrice a week, from Monday to Wednesday. However, the House leadership decided to cancel last week's Wednesday session in order to thoroughly disinfect the plenary and other facilities.
Four have died from the House (including Datol) due to COVID-19.