Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 13) — The House of Representatives has disclosed that one of its employees tested positive for the coronavirus disease or COVID-19.
The patient is a staffer of the House’s Printing Service, according to Secretary General Jose Luis Montales’ message to employees on Friday. All personnel of the Printing Service have self-quarantined, Montales said. The message was later shared to reporters by 1PACMAN Party-list Rep. Eric Pineda.
Montales added that the staffer has no history of travel to any country with confirmed COVID-19 cases, and has no known history of exposure to an infected person.
“To recall, the staff has been in and out of the hospital since last year for various ailments. The staff was recently confined for community-acquired pneumonia,” Montales said.
It is not clear if the House employee is among the 52 confirmed COVID-19 cases earlier confirmed by the Department of Health. Montales said the DOH will make an official announcement.
Montales added that the DOH will identify other people, including employees of other departments in the House, who had been in contact with the coronavirus patient so they can also self-quarantine.
Meanwhile, House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano has suspended work in the lower chamber from March 16 to April 12. This is patterned to the work suspension imposed by President Rodrigo Duterte for the executive department.
However, all House employees “shall be on-call and may be required to report to office to perform their official duties for the welfare of the public,” Montales said.
He added that some key offices, including the Office of the Sergeant at Arms – Legislative Security Bureau, Finance Department, Engineering and Physical Facilities Department, and Information Communications Technology Service will implement a rotation skeletal work force, Montales said. Other employees “shall be allowed to work from home but are required to timely submit their assigned outputs using telecommunication and online technologies.”
Majority of the country’s coronavirus cases are confined in hospitals in Metro Manila. Five have died of COVID-19.
Worldwide, COVID-19 has killed more than 4,720 people, mostly in China, since the outbreak began in Wuhan City in December last year. Over 128,000 people have been infected according to the Johns Hopkins University’s COVID-19 global tracker.
To prevent infection, authorities are urging people to practice regular hand washing, cover the mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing, and avoid close contact with those who exhibit virus symptoms.
