Based on the results of the rapid testing on Senate employees conducted on May 4 prior to its scheduled session resumption on this afternoon, 12 out of 500 personnel are positive for COVID-19.
This was announced by Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III, who said that the count included two staff members of senators, a waiter and a page. The remaining employees who tested positive, meanwhile, came from the Office of the Sergeant-at-Arms.
These 12 employees, according to Sotto, were sent to hospitals immediately and will be undergoing mandatory quarantine.
Previously, there were three senators who also tested positive for COVID-19, namely Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri, Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III and Sonny Angara. Although he recovered from the virus in April, Angara was revealed to have tested positive again on May 2, which he found out during initial tests conducted while he was preparing to donate his blood plasma.
[READ: Angara on COVID-19 crisis: “We need a problem solver and a crisis manager at this point”]
Despite quarantine measures, the Senate decided to push through with their May 4 plenary session, where 13 senators confirmed their physical attendance, according to Zubiri.
In addition to Zubiri and Sotto, the 13 senators in attendance included Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto and senators Richard Gordon, Panfilo Lacson, Lito Lapid, Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr., Manny Pacquiao, Sherwin Gatchalian, Christopher “Bong” Go, Ronald “Bato dela Rosa, Joel Villanueva and Nancy Binay.
Part of the agenda for the session is the discussion to adopt a resolution for the amendment of Senate rules on allowing official proceedings through teleconferencing in observance of the enhanced community quarantine.
Header photo by Richard A. Reyes for Inquirer.net
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