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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider UPDATE: AFP Chief infected with COVID-19

UPDATE: AFP Chief infected with COVID-19

Published Aug 23, 2021 11:51 am

Lt. Gen. Jose Faustino Jr., Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), has tested positive for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), it was revealed Monday, Aug. 23.

Lt. Gen. Jose Faustino Jr., Chief of Staff, Armed Forces of the Philippines (Courtesy of AFP Public Affairs Office)

Faustino was supposed to meet with reporters covering the military beat in a hybrid meeting around 9 a.m. but it had to be cancelled after the results of his antigen test yielded positive results, said Col. Ramon Zagala, AFP spokesperson.

"Those who are attending the meeting antigen test and that also included the Chief of Staff. This morning, prior to the meeting, the Chief of Staff tested positive in the antigen test," Zagala told reporters.

The press briefing for Faustino's scheduled meeting with officials from the United States Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM) at 3 p.m. was also cancelled.

The military chief is now undergoing self-isolation in his quarters at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City as he received the result of his real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test, the gold standard in COVID-19 testing, which also turned out to be postive.

"He is okay. It's just for safety reaason that he is in isolation. That's the protocol to not only he is safe but all of those concerned ," Zagala noted.

Contact tracing has also been initiated to find out where Faustino got infected and to identify his close contacts.

Last Saturday, Faustino presided the joint change of command and retirement ceremony of the Visayas Command (VISCOM) between now retired Lt. Gen Roberto Ancan and Maj. Gen. Pio Dinoso III.

"All of those who were in close contact with the Chief of Staff, we advise them to also test and we're also relying on our own medical professionals in the procedures to be taken," Zagala said.

Despite this, Faustino will still be in command of the AFP, according to Zagala.

The AFP has 15,625 COVID-19 cases as of Aug. 21, according to the military spokesperson. Of these, there are more than 1,500 active cases; 13,000 recoveries; and a total of 31 deaths.

Meanwhile, the vaccination of military personnel and civilian human resources are on-going. A total of 108,010 AFP personnel have been inoculated which represents around 80 percent of its total force.

Related Tags

infection jose faustino jr. 8232021 afp chief covid-19 Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP)
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