By VANNE ELAINE P. TERRAZOLA
Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa has tested positive for COVID-19.
“I’m sorry to inform you that I tested positive for COVID-19 yesterday. To all who made contact with me, please do the appropriate protocols,” Dela Rosa said in a brief statement sent by his office Saturday.
The senator is “okay” despite having a cold. His eldest daughter is also infected with the virus but is asymptomatic, Dela Rosa’s office said.
Dela Rosa confirmed that he contracted the coronavirus disease after Sen. Richard Gordon reminded his colleagues in the Senate plenary to go on self-quarantine should they develop symptoms.
“If one of us got exposed to one of our colleagues yesterday, the incubation period, is five days. If we get the symptoms, we immediately do something about it,” Gordon said before the Senate adjourned its session early Saturday morning.
Gordon is also the chairman of the Philippine Red Cross.
Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri then said, “The suspect is here on Wednesday.”
“If you start feeling a little woozy or whatever, then you start seeing your doctor and start quarantining yourselves,” Gordon added.
Senate President Vicente Sotto III said senators who physically attended their plenary sessions have undergone the antigen swab test. He said his test yielded a negative result.
Dela Rosa is the fifth senator who got infected with COVID-19. Zubiri and Senators Sonny Angara, Koko Pimentel, and Bong Revilla have all recovered from the disease.
