Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva. Senate PRIB file photo / Voltaire F. Domingo
MANILA, Philippines — Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva tested positive for coronavirus on Thursday.
Villanueva shared with reporters the result of his reverse transcription – polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test, which showed that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, is detected.
The senator said he had already informed Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri and his colleagues about his infection.
Villanueva is the fifth senator to contract COVID-19 this month.
Senators Alan Peter Cayetano, Imee Marcos, Cynthia Villar, and Grace Poe received positive RT-PCR test results earlier.
Cayetano has already recovered, while Marcos, Villar, and Poe are still under quarantine.
Following the series of infections, the Senate heightened its rules and limited its guests starting August 15.
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