MANILA, Philippines — The Senate building is on restricted access, not lockdown, Senate President Vicente Sotto III said Thursday.
In a statement, Sotto said he already issued a directive to the Senate Sergeant-at-Arms to enforce restricted access to certain areas of the building.
“I have issued a directive to the Senate Sergeant At Arms to put the Senate under Restricted Access, NOT a lockdown as the term lockdown has been misinterpreted and abused,” he said.
“Officials and their staff who have work to do and complete are required to report for work,” he added.
Access to the Senate building will remain restricted until the “disinfection is 100 (percent),” the Senate president noted.
Sotto said committee hearings will only be allowed to proceed after the building has been “declared safe.”
“But that will take a while,” he added.
In a television interview late Wednesday, Sotto said he had ordered the “lockdown” of the building after a resource person who attended a hearing last week tested positive for the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
Several senators have already subjected themselves to self-quarantine with some planning to get tested.
Sotto said offices or areas scheduled for cleaning and disinfection will be cordoned off and will not be accessible to any Senate employee, except for the cleaners who have been required to wear protective clothing.
“The Senate has to continue to function. The Filipino people need us today and we cannot let the threat and scare of infection to distract us from work,” he said.
The Philippines has so far confirmed 49 cases of COVID-19, a respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus that first emerged last year in Wuhan, China.