By Jel Santos
Metropolitan Manila Development Authority General Manager Jose Arturo Garcia yesterday announced that he has tested positive for the novel coronavirus disease-2019, five days undergoing self-quarantine.
Garcia and MMDA spokesperson Assistant Secretary Celine Pialago have been on self-quarantine following exposure to a person with COVID-19 during a meeting.
“I wish to inform everyone that I will have to work from home as I have been found positive for COVID-19,” Garcia said.
“My work puts me under a lot of risk, and this is part of it. I embrace this challenge with full trust and faith in God that I will overcome the same with your prayers,” he added.
Garcia said he learned that he has COVID-19 last Friday night.
The MMDA general manager said that he is currently experiencing cough.
“I am experiencing cough. What I’m doing right now is self-quarantine so I will not infect anyone. Hopefully, in the next few days, it will not worsen –hopefully my test result would be negative soon,” Garcia shared.
He urged the public to remain at home to avoid contracting the dreaded infectious disease.
“We need the public to remain at home, because no one is safe from this disease,” he said.
Pialago had earlier called on those had contact with to undergo self-quarantine.
Also on self-quarantine is National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council Executive Director Ricardo Jalad.
Jalad subjected himself to home quarantine starting Friday after being exposed to Armed Forces chief of staff Gen. Felimon Santos Jr. who tested positive for COVID-19.
Lei Bendijo, acting chief of the Office of Civil Defense public affairs office, said Jalad had a history of exposure on two occasions – last Saturday, March 21, and Monday, March 23.
“Undersecretary Ricardo Jalad is considered a Person under Monitoring and is not feeling any symptoms related to the virus,” Bendijo said.
NDRRMC spokesperson Mark Timbal said Jalad was generally feeling “okay” but decided to undergo a 14-day home quarantine as a protocol.
“He will continue to exercise his functions in a work from home arrangement while under quarantine,” Timbal said. (with a report from Martin Sadongdong)
SOLON CLEARED
For two days since Wednesday, ACT-CIS party-list Rep. Eric Go Yap could not sleep as he worried about the state of his health and was bothered by guilt at the grim thought of infecting the country’s top political leaders, President Duterte included, with COVID-19.
At around 6 p.m. Friday, a call from the Department of Health-Research Institute for Tropical Medicine in Muntinlupa City instantly swept away Yap’s anguished thoughts.
Dr. Celia Carlos, DOH-RITM head, gave the happy news that the neophyte solon was the victim of a clerical error and that he had actually tested negative for the dreaded COVID-19.
Yap has become the object of public criticism after announcing last Thursday that the DoH-RITM had released findings of his COVID-19 test indicating that he has the dangerous disease.
The lawmaker publicly apologized for this as he revealed having attended at least three important events that put him inside one room with the leaders of Congress and top Cabinet members.
“No less than Dr. Carlos called me up to explained what happened,” Yap said.
The DoH-RITM chief aired her agency’s apology which was later posted on Facebook.
“Hindi naging madali ito, pero buong puso kong tinatanggap ang apology ng DoH-RITM,” Yap said.
Yap, chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations, said he fully understood the predicament of the agency, being the “busiest medical facility in the country right now.”
“This is just a clerical error and should not be taken against RITM, hindi sila nagkamali ng pag-process ng samples ko, hindi sila nagkamali sa basa ng results ko,” Yap said. (Ben R. Rosario)
