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Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque tests positive for COVID-19


Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque on Monday announced that he tested positive for COVID-19.

“Positibo po ako para sa COVID-19. Nag-test po ako kahapon lamang dahil sa pagpupulong kay Presidente mamaya, at ngayon po lumabas na positibo (I tested positive for COVID-19. I had myself tested yesterday because I will be meeting the President today, and the results came in today),” Roque said during his press briefing.

 

 

"Sa akin pong close contact, kinakailangan ninyo po mag-quarantine (Those I have been in close contact with, you need to go on quarantine)," he added.

Roque, however, said he tested negative for COVID-19 last March 10 before he went with President Rodrigo Duterte for inauguration of infrastructure projects in Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental last March 11.

He also held a press conference at the sidelines of COVID-19 vaccination  in Ilocos Norte last March 12.

Surprised

Roque then cited that he underwent 35 COVID-19 tests since he was appointed as spokesperson last April 2020 and as such, he was caught off guard when he learned he was infected with COVID-19.

“That is why it came as a surprise and a shock. This has been a routine in preparation for meeting with the President. I’m negative and always have been negative for the past year, but exactly one year after ECQ (enhanced community quarantine), COVID-19 got me,” he said.

Likewise, Roque maintained that he did not expose himself to more people after testing positive for COVID-19 even if he went to this office in Malacañang pending the results of his RT-PCR test taken on March 14, Sunday.

“I do not have much exposure because I have been to the office. My routine is that I am alone in my office reading my briefing papers and reading all the papers, so  I almost did not come in contact withanyone in the office,” he said.

“Right now, I’m alone in my office, that is why I am having problems with connectivity natin because no one is assisting me inside the room,” he added.

Roque said he is asymptomatic and that an antigen test in Malacañang on Monday confirmed he was COVID-19 positive.

The presidential spokesperson also disclosed that his wife already underwent COVID-19 test, and that he will check himself in a quarantine facility in the event his wife tests negative.

Roque, however, clarified that his COVID-19 illness will not undermine his role as mouthpiece for President Rodrigo Duterte.

“If she is negative [for COVID-19] today, I intend to go to an isolation facility also because we need to walk the talk. And since I am asymptomatic, I will proceed to continue to discharge my functions,” he said.

“I will probably not be as effective because I will not be attending the meetings with the President and I will not be physically with the President, but I will try to follow live coverage of the President’s meeting; and for the President meeting with select members of the IATF,” he added.

Meanwhile, Bayan Muna party-list Representative Carlos Isagani Zarate slammed Roque for not isolating himself while waiting for the result of his COVID-19 test. 

The lawmaker stressed that Duterte's spokesman had put others at risk as he still went to his office. 

"Yesterday, he was tested for COVID but instead of immediately isolating himself until he got the results, he even went to his office today thereby putting his officemates at risk," Zarate said in a statement. 

"How 'pasaway' can you get, especially for a government official lecturing ordinary people to follow health protocols," he added. —With a report from Anna Felicia Bajo/KG/AOL, GMA News

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