THREE more senators have tested positive for the coronavirus.

They were Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva and Senators Nancy Binay and JV Ejercito.

Within August, seven senators including Alan Peter Cayetano, Imee Marcos, Cynthia Villar and Grace Poe tested positive for the virus.

Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri said they are planning to temporarily close down the Senate building for disinfection.

The country is experiencing an increase in Covid-19 cases due to the highly transmissible Omicron subvariants.

As of August 18, there were a total of 36,115 active Covid-19 cases in the country, which has a total caseload of 3,844,708 with 61,221 deaths.

The National Capital Region is the major contributor to the daily number of cases, although the Department of Health said cases here are plateauing.

Octa Research said cases in Metro Manila are trending downward. (SunStar Philippines)