An unchristian question, Roque says when asked on how he secured hospital room despite shortage

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque on Monday refused to go into details on how he secured a hospital room — a scarcity amid the surge in COVID-19 cases in Metro Manila — after he contracted the virus over the weekend.

“With all due respect, that is an unchristian question,” Roque, confined at the Philippine General Hospital, replied when asked about it during his regular press briefing.

“Bumaba po ang aking oxygen level to 90,” he said when asked on what were his symptoms that warranted hospital confinement.

Roque announced that he was infected with COVID-19 on Saturday, April 10. Earlier during that same day, he announced that he is attending a meeting by the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF).

Roque's April 10 announcement marked the second time he tested positive for COVID-19 in less than a month. He first announced that he was COVID-positive on March 15 and that he was asymptomatic.

Despite prodding from journalists, Roque had declined to show his RT-PCR test results during his first infection, citing privacy.

On Monday, Roque stressed that measures are in place to treat COVID-19 patients in the country.

“Ang aking assurance, sa administrasyon ni Presidente Rodrigo Duterte, lahat po ng nangangailangan ng tulong medikal ay mabibigayan ng tulong dahil sa Universal Healthcare Law,” he said.

[I can assure the public that under President Rodrigo Duterte's administration, all those who are in need of medical assistance will be have it becuase of the Universal Healthcare Law.]

The Philippines has 146,519 active COVID-19 cases as of latest count. Of this number, some 58,000 new cases were recorded in Metro Manila alone in the last two weeks. —KBK, GMA News