MANILA, Philippines — Senate President Vicente Sotto III said he would be open to taking another rapid coronavirus disease (COVID-19) test after attending a meeting with a House lawmaker who recently confirmed that he contracted the virus.
“I’m fine but (if) people think I should take a test again, I can and I will,” Sotto said in a text message to reporters on Thursday.
“Rapid test. Private not DOH (Department of Health),” the senator noted in a separate text message.
This after ACT-CIS Rep. Eric Yap disclosed on Wednesday that he tested positive for COVID-19, a contagious disease which has so far infected over 700 in the Philippines.
Yap earlier met with Cabinet secretaries, fellow congressmen and senators, including Sotto, in a meeting in Malacañang over the weekend.
“I’m still in home quarantine, though I don’t think I was exposed to him. The meeting with them was very short. The real meeting transpired in the office of (Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea) and he (Yap) was not included,” the Senate President went on.
“(Senator Pia Cayetano) said he (Yap) was wearing a mask most of the time except for a pic(ture) that’s why I did not see or recognize him,” he added.
Sotto earlier said he first underwent a test last March 16 “with the help of a friend from the private sector” who had a testing kit which was not yet accredited by the DOH and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The 71-year-old senator said his March 16 test turned out negative but since he was manifesting a dry cough and sore throat “for days now” and because of his age and exposure to individuals suspected of having the disease, he decided to undergo a confirmatory test.
Yap is the first congressman to test positive for the disease.
At the upper chamber, at least three lawmakers have tested positive for COVID-19, namely Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri and senators Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel and Sonny Angara.
Meanwhile, a staffer of Senator Pia Cayetano also tested positive for COVID-19.