The Research Institute for Tropical Medicine later announced that it has made an error in encoding the result of one of the lawmakers. The facility clarified that ACT-CIS Party-list Rep. Eric Yap tested negative for COVID-19, retracting its earlier pronouncement.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 27) — The entire team guarding President Rodrigo Duterte in the Malacañang complex in Manila City will still undergo quarantine as precautionary measure against COVID-19, the Presidential Security Group said Friday.
PSG Commander Col. Jesus Durante III earlier told CNN Philippines the quarantine order will be imposed from March 28 until April 10 on all PSG personnel and their family living in the compound. The order comes after several government officials and lawmakers tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
“Nobody goes in, nobody goes out for all PSG personnel dito sa Malacañang Complex, together with their dependents living in the complex,” he said.
He said during quarantine, the PSG personnel will continue to carry out their duties in the compound where Duterte resides whenever he is in Manila.
Durante said there will still be a security team monitoring Duterte, assuring the personnel assigned are those who already tested negative for COVID-19. He added that precautionary health measures, such as physical distancing, are still in place.
He said Duterte is currently residing in Malacañang and observing the same quarantine rules imposed on all residents in Luzon. The President continues to work through video teleconferencing and phone calls, he added,
“He’s not going around, tuloy pa rin ang trabaho niya. But we haven’t been accepting visitors for him, parang self quarantine na rin ‘yan. He’s just staying here, abiding by the lockdown in the National Capital Region,” the PSG Chief said.
CNN Philippines correspondent Triciah Terada contributed to this report.
However, despite this development, Durante said the PSG will still take the precautionary measure. Durante added that they will also push through with their investigation on Yap, who failed to fully disclose his health condition when he attended a meeting in Malacañang on Saturday.
