34 people test positive for COVID-19 in House's 2nd testing effort –SecGen

Thirty-four out of 2,848 individuals have tested positive for COVID-19 in the House of Representatives' second mass testing effort, Secretary General Mark Llandro Mendoza said Sunday.

In a statement, Mendoza said the recorded new COVID-19 cases in the chamber is equivalent to a positivity rate of only 1.19%, which is "is way below the 5-percent positivity rate recorded during the first mass testing."

Almost all the new COVID-19 cases in the House were asymptomatic and have been isolated to avoid further transmission, he added. Immediate tracing of their close contacts was also conducted.

From November 10 to 20 last year, the chamber conducted its first mass testing initiative, around a month after Speaker Lord Allan Velasco took office.

A total of 98 of the 2,000 House members and employees tested positive for COVID-19 during this round, all of them have since recovered.

Mendoza attributed the decline in the number of cases to the effective implementation of the chamber's COVID-19 management program.

“Throughout the testing period, we were coordinating closely with our Barangay Health Emergency Response Team and followed DOH protocols,” he added.

Despite the decline in the number of cases in the House, Mendoza said stricter enforcement of health and safety protocols will be observed within the Batasang Pambansa Complex in light of the detection of the new variant of COVID-19 in the country.

“Coronavirus cases in the House have been brought down quite remarkably but because of the new strain, we cannot be complacent,” he said.

“Speaker Velasco said we must continue or even intensify our efforts to prevent the spread of COVID-19, especially now that a new variant of coronavirus is gaining a foothold in the country,” he added.

Visitors, for instance, are required to present a negative COVID-19 Antigen test result before they can be allowed to enter offices inside the complex.

Individuals entering the House are likewise required to wear face masks and face shields, pass through thermal scanners and disinfection machines, and observe physical distancing at all times.

Also, the submission of an accomplished health declaration form is mandatory  before being allowed entry into the House premises.

Cleaning and disinfection of all offices and buildings are also done on a daily basis.

A total of 523,516 cases of COVID-19 have been recorded in the Philippines as of January 30, with 475,904 recoveries and 10,669 deaths. —LBG, GMA News