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MANILA – The Senate is reviewing its health protocols after a senator and at least one visitor tested positive for COVID-19, Senate President Vicente Sotto III said Monday.
The disinfection of the Senate building in Pasay City occurs “almost daily” after Senator Ronald Dela Rosa and an executive official who attended budget deliberations last week tested positive for COVID-19, Sotto told reporters at A text message.
“I ordered a review. The Secretariat is already verifying the effectiveness of the protocols,” he said.
“Last week, the entire Senate was sanitized,” he said.
In March, the Senate relaxed chamber rules and allowed senators to participate in hearings and plenary sessions via video conferencing to curb the spread of the highly contagious disease in the building.
In mid-2020, acrylic panels were installed in the Senate lobby and plenary hall to fulfill the government’s mandate to place plastic barriers on counters and tables to limit potential infections as the virus is transmitted through droplets of the mouth or nose of an infected person. .
Temperature controls and disinfection stations were also placed in different parts of the building.
Senators and staff are also subject to occasional COVID-19 testing, especially during large events, including the opening of the second ordinary session of the 18th Congress in July.
Despite these measures, Dela Rosa, who said she may have contracted the illness from her home aide, was able to enter the building and join other senators in budget debates in plenary last week.
Dela Rosa is the fifth senator to test positive for COVID-19.
Senators Juan Miguel Zubiri, Sonny Angara, Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, and Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. also contracted and recovered from COVID-19 earlier this year.
From the files:
Tito Sotto, COVID-19, Senate, Ronald Dela Rosa, health, health protocol, global pandemic
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