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Pangilinan, Hontiveros skip COVID-19 testing


Senators  Francis Pangilinan and Risa Hontiveros on Wednesday said they opted not to get tested for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) because they were not exhibiting any symptoms.

"Hindi pa. [I] am following health protocols and under self-quarantine after Senator Migz [Zubiri] tested positive for COVID," Hontiveros said in text message to GMA News Online.

"[I] am currently not displaying any symptoms," she added.

Pangilinan also skipped the laboratory test because he was asymptomatic.

"The senator followed the DOH-prescribed protocols and did not submit to testing as he had no symptoms," his office said in a statement.

Last week, several senators deemed it best to isolate themselves after learning that a resource person who attended a Senate hearing on March 5 turned out to be infected with COVID-19.

Senators Sherwin Gatchalian and Nancy Binay who were present at the said hearing tested negative for the virus.

Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri, however, was diagnosed with COVID-19. He announced it on Monday night and said that he was not manifesting any symptoms.

On Tuesday, Senate President Vicente Sotto III, Senators Pia Cayetano, Panfilo Lacson, Imee Marcos, Grace Poe, Ramon Revilla Jr., and Francis Tolentino also submitted samples to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine.

Senator Richard Gordon supposedly got tested too, according to his staff.

Prior to that, Senator Bong Go has also undergone testing with President Rodrigo Duterte. Some Cabinet members were also tested.

Based on the algorithm for triage of patients with possible COVID-19 that was released by the DOH last week, asymptomatic patients with exposure history should undergo a 14-day home quarantine.

They are considered persons under monitoring but are not recommended to undergo testing unless they start manifesting symptoms and have been assessed to be high-risk due to other underlying diseases and old age.

It has not been made clear yet if changes were made regarding the DOH's triage.

 

Photo by DOH
Photo by DOH

—LDF, GMA News

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