DOH says Zubiri’s contacts need not be quarantined; senator apologizes

MANILA, Philippines — Senators and others who came into close contact with Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri do not necessarily need to undergo quarantine.

This was according to a letter from the Department of Health (DOH), which was sent to Senate President Vicente Sotto III and read before the chamber suspended its plenary session on Tuesday.

Zubiri recently tested positive for the coronavirus in a swab test done as a requirement for those who would physically attend President Rodrigo Duterte’s fifth State of the Nation Address at the Batasang Pambansa in Quezon City.

A later confirmatory test showed he was negative for the virus anew.

In its letter, the DOH said: “Those who are close contacts of the senator (Zubiri) need not necessarily be quarantined since this is most likely not a true infection.”

“As a layer of safety, close contacts may be tested using PCR (polymerase chain reaction) five days after their last contact, which is not necessary,” it read.

Zubiri first tested positive for the coronavirus back in March. He recovered from the disease in April.

According to the DOH letter, the PCR test “is very sensitive and can detect the virus and virus genetic materials remnants.”

“Due to the test’s sensitivity, the PCR result of senator Zubiri can be remnant of the virus. It can also be a false-positive result or cross contamination,” it read.

Citing his experience in a privilege speech, Zubiri urged the DOH to issue guidelines on the “right protocols in dealing with recovered patients.”

The DOH should be “more prudent in testing and releasing the result of recovered patients,” according to the senator.

“Should they have their tests after a certain period, say two or three months? Are those repetitive tests necessary for recovered patients, if these will certainly turn out to be false-positive? Imagine the anxiety and mental anguish such a false-positive result will bring to the recovered patient, his family, and the people he interacted with,” he said.

“With what happened yesterday, I unintentionally caused anxiety and perhaps even panic to some of my colleagues and workers of government in the Senate — not to mention the stress I caused my wife and children. I thought my father and mother were going to have a heart attack from the stress they received last night,” he added.

He also said the government should have “perfected or at the very least attained a certain degree of expertise and accuracy in our testing capability” considering the country is now four months into the pandemic.

“These facts and scenarios could have been factored-in in our testing protocols and triage screening of patients. It could not be one-machine- or one-system-fits-all,” he said.

“If our testing protocols are not accurate or suited to the conditions of patients, whether they are new infections or recovered patients, we may not be presenting a clear picture of the number of COVID cases,” he added.

“It could be higher, or it could even be lower than the current figures, due to false-positive or false-negative cases,” Zubiri stressed.

The senator, nevertheless, said that he would remain under quarantine “just to be sure.”

“But I want to ensure everyone that I feel well and healthy…And I apologize once again to all those I caused stress to during this false-positive…to all those I caused stress to during this false-positive,” he added.

The Philippines has so far confirmed 83,673 COVID-19 cases. Of the number, 26,617 have already recovered while 1,947 succumbed to the respiratory disease.

/atm