MANILA, Philippines — Senators Nancy Binay and Sherwin Gatchalian turned to doing household chores while they undergo self-quarantine for 14 days after supposedly interacting with a person who attended a Senate hearing then later on tested positive for coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
Gatchalian was the first of government officials to publicly announce that he would undergo self-quarantine, since he was the one who led the Senate hearing that the COVID-19 patient had attended prior to testing. Binay followed suit, as well as the other senators, as a precautionary measure.
The patient has since been confined at a private hospital. Meanwhile, the Senate has been on skeletal force while disinfection of its premises are ongoing.
But what’s been keeping the quarantined senators?
In a Twitter post, Binay shared a picture of heaps of dirty laundry that she said required her attention.
Kulang ata ang 14 days self quarantine sa labada ko 🤔☻ pic.twitter.com/YpzDkZpmOZ
— Senator Nancy Binay (@SenatorBinay) March 13, 2020
“Kulang ata ang 14 days self quarantine sa labada ko (My 14-day self-quarantine might not be enough to finish my laundry work),” Binay said.
Gatchalian commiserated with Binay’s predicament, saying she should just pass the chore to her husband.
“Sabihin mo kay Pepito (Binay’s husband) siya maglaba. Or else for life na house arrest niya (Tell Pepito to do the laundry, or else he will be under house arrest for life)!” Gatchalian said in his reply-tweet, to which Binay answered: “Specialty nya ang magplantsa.”
For his part, Gatchalian said he found a new best friend in the first few days of his quarantine — a microwave.
In a radio interview, Gatchalian said his isolation has led him to learn wash his own dishes and do his own laundry.
“’Yan ang mahirap pag mag-isa ka eh, actually natuto ako mag hugas ng pinggan atsaka maglaba ngayon dahil magisa (That is what is hard about being isolated. Actually, I learned how to wash my dishes and do my own laundry because I am alone),” he said.
“Hindi pwede ho (makisalamuha sa iba) dahil pati yung best friend ko nga ngayon ay microwave eh (I am not allowed to be around people, my best friend now is the microwave),” the senator added.
In a separate Instagram post, Gatchalian also shared that he is also exercising using a treadmill.
“Dahil 100% po ang aking health condition ngayon, ako ay tumakbo pa ng 5 kilometers para pawisan at magkaroon ng lakas (Because my health condition is at 100 percent now, I ran for five kilometers so that I could perspire and have strength),” he said.
He said his mother sent him some face masks, alcohol, and vitamins, and — onions!
“Thanks Mom for sending me some immune-boosting and virus-fighting items while I undergo self-quarantine,” Gatchalian said on Instagram.
“Yon sibuyas lang ang hindi ko maintindihan. Nakaka-absorb daw ng COVID-19 yon sibuyas at gamitin parang inhaler. Ewan ko kung nakita niya ito sa Google (I don’t understand why she sent onions. It supposedly can absorb COVID-19 like an inhaler. I don’t know if she saw it on Google,” he shared.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) said the incubation period, which is the time between exposure to infection and appearance of the symptoms, ranges from one to 12.5 days. Some cases, however, could reach up to 14 days.
Thus, those with possible exposure to the virus are advised to place themselves under quarantine for 14 days.