The Supreme Court (SC) declared on Wednesday, July 1, that courts nationwide should not be closed or placed on lockdown when an official or an employee tested positive for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) through the rapid anti-body test kit until the result is confirmed through the Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) or the swab test.

In a circular issued by Court Administrator Jose Midas P. Marquez, the SC said the new policy on court closure or lockdown was based on the Department of Health’s (DOH) Updated Interim Guidelines on Expanded Testing for COVID-19.

The DOH guidelines state that positive results through anti-body tests for COVID should be confirmed through RT-PCR.

Thus, Marquez in the circular said that judges or court personnel who tested positive for COVID-19 with the use of rapid anti-body test kits “shall immediately undergo confirmatory RT-PCR (swab) testing.

“Pending the release of the results of the RT-PCR testing, the subject who tested positive in the rapid anti-body test shall be on self-quarantine, or upon the recommendation of the medical doctor who administered the rapid anti-body test, referred for possible admission to a hospital in either of the following cases – severe/critical symptoms with relevant history of travel/contact, or mild symptoms with relevant history of travel/contact and considered vulnerable,” Marquez said.

“In the interim, courts exposed to subjects who tested positive using the rapid anti-body kits shall neither be closed nor locked down… but once the confirmatory RT-PCR test yields a positive result, the concerned court… shall be closed for 14 days and shall be immediately disinfected,” he said.

“Should the confirmatory RT-PCR test yield a negative result, the exposed court shall remain open and shall strictly observe courtroom practices aimed at effectively preventing the spread of COVID-19,” he added.

At the same time, Marquez said that if a local government unit (LGU) will disinfect the entire hall of justice on a weekday, “the courts therein shall be closed provided that the judges and court personnel shall work from home and conduct hearings via video conferencing, whenever applicable.”

“Where the LGU will lockdown the city or municipal hall where the courts are located, the executive or presiding judge, upon consultation with the LGU and local health officials, shall evaluate if the courts can operate despite such lockdown, and thereafter clear with the Office of the Court Administrator (OCA) prior to closing or locking down…,” he also said.

Previously, several trial courts in several cities in Metro Manila have been placed on a 14-day lockdown due to personnel infected with COVID-19.

As of June 30, there have been 37,514 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country. There have been 10,233 recoveries and 1,266 deaths.