Senate imposes stricter measure amid rise in Covid-19 cases

File photo
File photo

THE Senate of the Philippines will not accept guests in the next three weeks, Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri announced Wednesday, August 10, 2022.

Zubiri said as a preventive measure against the spread of coronavirus disease (Covid-19), they will implement stricter protocols in the Senate premises.

"Due to the rising Covid-19 cases in the last week, where we had three of our colleagues testing positive for Covid-19 (virus), during our caucus the senators decided to tighten our health and safety protocols," he said during the Senate session.

"Effective Monday, August 15, for three weeks, we will have a lockdown for guests. We'll receive no guests for three weeks except for resource persons which will be limited to two per agency or organization. The others could participate remotely," he added.

He said those who will be allowed to enter the building are required to present a negative Covid-19 reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test taken 24 hours prior to their scheduled meeting inside the Senate or a negative antigen Covid-19 test taken 12 hours prior to their entry.

Zubiri said self-administered Covid-19 test results will not be accepted.

He said each senator will only be allowed with two companions during hearings and plenary sessions except for committee chairpersons.

"We beg the indulgence of the general public. It's just kung hindi po natamaan ang mga senador, masama dito, e, sunod-sunod po ang pagtama sa ating mga kasamahan sa Senado (

our colleagues in the Senate were hit by the virus one after the other) and we just want to be safe. We have members with comorbidities, staff with comorbidities," said Zubiri.

"According to the DOH (Department of Health) and Octa Research... the cases will peak in the next few weeks. So maybe we could give ourselves a bit of a safety net for the next few weeks, at least in the Senate," he added.

Last week, Senator Allan Cayetano tested positive for Covid-19 followed by Senators Imee Marcos and Cynthia Villar. (SunStar Philippines)

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