Duterte under quarantine after exposure to COVID-19 case —Palace

President Rodrigo Duterte is under mandatory quarantine after he was exposed to a household staff member who was tested positive for COVID-19, Malacañang said Thursday.

"The Palace confirms that President Rodrigo Roa Duterte was recently exposed to household staff who tested positive for COVID-19," acting presidential spokesperson Karlo Nograles said in a statement.

"The President has since been tested for COVID-19, and while the results of the test came back negative, he is currently observing mandatory quarantine protocols."

Nograles said the President was exposed to a COVID-19 positive case last January 30  and that his RT-PCR test result, which showed him negative for COVID-19, came out on Monday, January 31.

Duterte, Nograles said, underwent another RT-PCR test and tested negative again on February 1.

Nograles also said on Thursday that Duterte went to Cardinal Santos Medical Center in San Juan "for his routine medical check-up only."

He, however, has yet to answer queries when this checkup took place or if it occurred after the President's January 30 exposure to a COVID-19 case.

Nograles assured the public that Duterte remains capable of executing his duties. 

"The Chief Executive continues to work while in quarantine, and is in constant communication with the members of the Cabinet in order to ensure that urgent matters are addressed, and to monitor the implementation of his directives, particularly with regard to the government’s COVID-19 response," he said.

Under the protocol issued by the Department of Health, quarantine period for those exposed to a COVID-19 case and are fully vaccinated against the disease is seven days or at the advice of the doctor.

Duterte is already fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and has also received a booster shot. --KBK, GMA News