Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 6) — Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, who also heads the National Task Force against COVID-19, says he has tested positive for COVID-19.
The 72-year-old Defense chief said he was not experiencing any symptoms.
Lorenzana on Tuesday disclosed in a statement the results of a reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction or RT-PCR test he had.
“I will be undergoing isolation, following the quarantine guidelines, to avoid infecting others,” Lorenzana said.
“Those who have been exposed to me have been informed. They have been advised to isolate and get tested for COVID-19 as well,” he added.
Lorenzana stressed the Department of National Defense will continue to operate with a skeleton workforce to ensure continuity of service while following health protocols. He is also chairman of the National Task Force against COVID-19, which spearheads the implementation of the government’s pandemic action plan.
“I would like to remind everyone that the threat of the virus is as real as ever, more so now due to the new variants,” Lorenzana added as he reminded the public to observe minimum health standards, including the wearing of face masks and face shields and social distancing.
The country is currently dealing with a surge in COVID-19 cases amid the presence of “variants of concern” first discovered in the United Kingdom, South Africa, and Brazil.
On April 2, the country logged 15,310 more infections, which include a backlog of 3,709 cases from March 31. Still, the 11,601 confirmed that day became the biggest single-day increase in infections, but it was quickly overtaken by the 12,576 new COVID-19 cases reported on April 3. As of April 6, there were 152,562 active COVID-19 cases or patients currently battling the viral disease.
