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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider House records 16 COVID-19 cases in two weeks

House records 16 COVID-19 cases in two weeks

Published Aug 9, 2020 03:41 pm

The House of Representatives has recorded 16 positive cases of COVID-19 since the start of the second regular session some two weeks ago.

Secretary General Jose Luis Montales said the two latest positive cases were employees assigned at the Office of the Speaker. Both are male.

"He last reported for work on July 28. He went home about three hours later after experiencing fever, body malaise, and decreased sense of smell," Montales said in an advisory sent to House reporters Sunday afternoon, referring to the first new case.

"He’s now afebrile and has fully recovered his sense of smell. But he has mild cough. He is on home quarantine. Contact tracing is ongoing," he added.

A second advisory a few hours later bared that the second new case was "in stable condition."

"He last went to the in March. He got tested after experiencing fever, body malaise, and decreased sense of smell."

Although it wasn't mentioned by Montales, the COVID cases were the 38th and 39th recorded in the House, going by a similar advisory Saturday that said there were 37 cases. Three House employees have died so far from COVID-19.

COVID cases in the Lower Chamber have picked up since July 27, the day President Duterte delivered his fifth State of the Nation Address (SoNA) before a scaled-down Joint Session between House members and visiting senators at Batasang Pambansa Complex.

That morning, Deputy Speaker and Surigao del Sur 2nd district Rep. Johnny Pimentel was announced to have tested positive for COVID-19. He was case no. 23.

The swab test that revealed the positive result was actually conducted on Pimentel the previous day at Batasang Pambansa as part of the stringent screening set for SoNA attendees.

Pimentel, who also acts as Partido Demokratiko Pilipino–Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) spokesperson, has since been on quarantine but is reportedly doing fine and is asymptomatic.

The 300 House members and their respective staff hold office at Batasang Pambansa, although the vast majority of them haven't been able to go there since the declaration of an Enhanced Community Quarantine in mid-March.

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