Vice President Leni Robredo during her 2021 Ulat sa Bayan. Screengrab from OVP
MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Leni Robredo is currently on self-quarantine after being exposed to a member of her office staff who tested positive for COVID-19.
In a statement on Wednesday, Robredo said that she opted to go on quarantine despite following the health protocols of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) as she was in very close contact with the female staff member.
“I have been exposed to somebody from our office who tested positive for Covid today. While we have been religiously following health protocols, I was a very close contact,” Robredo said in her personal Facebook account.
“I started my quarantine yesterday after she developed symptoms. Because of this, I need to continue with my quarantine,” she added.
The Vice President said she will wait until Monday, the 7th day since exposure before taking an RT-PCR test. For now, Robredo said that she will have to cancel other activities while she is on quarantine.
“Following current protocols, I will submit myself to RT PCR testing on Monday, which is the 7th day after my last exposure. The same protocols state that even if I test negative, I need to continue my quarantine until the 14th day from my last exposure,” she said.
“Unfortunately, I need to have myself excused in the activities I have committed myself to. Apologies to everyone who may be affected by this. I will continue to work from home during the entire period,” she explained.
Despite slightly relaxed lockdown measures, the country is still facing a surge in COVID-19 cases, spurred by the more infectious Delta variant.
Numbers on Tuesday showed that the number of new COVID-19 infections remains over 10,000 with the Department of Health recording 12,067 new cases, pushing the active case count to 127,703.
READ: PH’s active COVID-19 cases at 127,703 with 12,067 new cases