MANILA, Philippines — Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte revealed on Wednesday she tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
“Nais ko pong ipahayag sa lahat ng aking minamahal na QCitizens na ako po ay nag-positibo sa aking huling COVID-19 test,” Belmonte said in a statement.
(I would like to let every QCititzen know that my last COVID-19 test turned out positive.)
“Nagpapasalamat po ako na agad itong natuklasan. Sa ngayon, maayos po ang aking kalagayan at wala po akong nararamdamang anumang sintomas,” she added.
(I am very thankful that this was discovered right away. As of now, I am okay and I do not feel any symptoms.)
Belmonte said that she is “strictly following” the quarantine protocols of the Department of Health, and city’s Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit has started contact tracing procedures.
Aside from this, the mayor added that her office, as well as the common areas of the Quezon City Hall, has been closed for disinfection.
“Dahil sa pagdalaw sa ating mga health center at ospital, special concern lockdown areas at mga komunidad upang alamin ang kanilang mga pangangailangan, sa simula pa lang, batid na naming posibleng mangyari ito,” she said.
(Because of my visits to health centers, hospitals, special concern lockdown areas, as well as communities to know what they need, from the start, I already knew it was possible to contract the disease.)
“Pero hindi ko po ito pinagsisisihan. Inihanda ko na po ang aking sarili at buong puso ko po itong tinatanggap,” she added.
(But I do not have any regrets. I already prepared for this and I wholeheartedly accept this.)
To date, the Philippines has 47,873 cases of COVID-19, with 12,386 recoveries and 1,309 deaths.
Of the country’s total number of cases, 3,869 of these were recorded in Quezon City, according to data provided by the Quezon City government as of Tuesday.