Zubiri declines followup COVID-19 test, suggests test kits be used for health frontliners

MANILA, Philippines — As his results for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) may turn out to be “false positive,” Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri on Thursday said that he hopes the remaining test kits be given to the health frontliners instead.

This comes after Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said that Zubiri may be tested again for the disease.

The senator tested positive for COVID-19. He is one of the 217 confirmed cases in the country.

He was also found to be asymptomatic, which means he has yet to show any signs of the disease such as dry cough, fever, and shortness of breath.

“With all due respect to our dear Secretary, I feel that the remaining available testing kits should be utilized by those who need them the most, like Frontline medical personnel and Symptomatic patients especially the elderly,” he said in a statement.

“In my case, I feel that the first and only test I had was accurate as I remembered that I had a slight fever Wednesday last week and was asymptomatic already by Monday after,” he added.

Zubiri added that despite Duque’s pronouncement, he will still continue to practice self-quarantine.

“Whatever test that will be done on me, later on, will be from the 10,000 kits our private sector group Art Rocks is paying for and bringing in from Korea as donations to frontline hospitals and not from government sources,” he added.

The COVID-19 is a respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus that first emerged in China’s city of Wuhan in Hubei province in late 2019.

The International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses named the novel coronavirus as SARS-CoV-2.

The virus causes mild symptoms such as fever and cough for most people but can cause serious illness such as pneumonia for others, especially older adults and people with existing health problems.