SENATE Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri announced Monday, March 16, that he tested positive for the coronavirus disease (Covid-19).
In a Facebook post, Zubiri said he took the test Friday, March 13, while on self-quarantine and he received a call from Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Francisco Duque confirming the positive result.
"To my dear fellow Filipinos, my Kababayans. It is with sadness that I announce that I am positive for Covid-19," he said.
"My heart sank with what he (Duque) had said but I'm uplifted with the fact that I am asymptomatic and have no fever or cough nor am I weak or have any headaches," he added.
The 50-year-old lawmaker said his decision to put himself under self-quarantine since last Wednesday, March 11, was "the best decision I made and could have protected my family from contamination."
"As one of those very early on in the Senate who espoused and advocated for stronger government response on controlling Covid-19, I was very careful in my dealings with people at work in the Senate. I practiced social distancing as well as a no handshake policy but yet I got contaminated. How, I do not know. This just goes to show how easily this virus is spread and therefore it is best for everyone to stay home and stay clean," he said.
He said he will stay locked in isolation for 10 more days until he gets a negative result.
"I hope my coming out will show how dangerously infectious this virus is. Sa aking mga Kababayans, makinig po tayo sa mga babala nang gobyerno at wag na po kayo lumabas sa inyong mga tahanan. God bless us all," he said.
Zubiri and several other lawmakers, such as Senators Sherwin Gatchalian and Nancy Binay, decided to put themselves under self-quarantine since last week after learning that a resource person who attended one of their hearings has tested positive for Covid-19.
The Philippines has so far 140 confirmed cases of Covid-19, with 12 deaths, as of March 15, 2020. (LMY/SunStar Philippines)