DepEd chief Briones tests positive for COVID-19

Education Secretary Leonor Briones has tested positive for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

"As a government official and Cabinet member, and as a Filipino, it is my duty to announce that yesterday afternoon, April 8, 2020, I was informed by the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine that I am positive for SARS-COV-2, the causative agent of COVID-19," Briones said in a statement. 

The 79-year-old Cabinet member said she decided to be tested for COVID-19 again on April 2 after learning that a fellow government official whom she attended a meeting with has tested positive for the virus.

Briones said she remains asymptomatic but will be in isolation.

"My body temperature which is taken three times a day, remains normal," she added.

Further, Briones said that she will continue working virtually to make sure that the Department of Education remains in full operation.

She urged those who had been in contact with her to go on self-quarantine too. — RSJ, GMA News