(FILE) Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello II. INQUIRER PHOTO / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE
MANILA, Philippines — Some offices of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), including its main building in Manila, are on lockdown until Thursday after three employees tested positive for COVID-19, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III announced on Wednesday.
“I am holding my office at the conference room because my office is under lockdown and some of the offices in the Department of Labor nakalockdown lahat dahil meron tayong nadiskubre na nagpositive na tatlong empleyado natin (because three of our employees tested positive),” he said in an online press briefing.
In a text message to INQUIRER.net, Rolly Francia, director of DOLE’s Information and Publication Service, said the lockdown covers the entire DOLE building housing the central office as well as the DOLE offices in BF Condominium in Intramuros and the G.E. Antonino Building in T.M. Kalaw in Ermita.
According to Bello, the lockdown started at 2 p.m. this Wednesday. Operations will resume on Friday but only with a skeleton workforce.
“All the rest [of workers] will report on Monday,” he added.
Bello said he was found negative for COVID-19 based on a polymerase chain reaction test and that the DOLE is waiting for the test results of its other employees.
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