NAGPOSITIBO si Education Sec. Leonor Briones sa SARS-COV-2, ang causative agent ng coronavirus disease 2019.
Ayon kay Briones tinawagan siya ng Research Institute for Tropical Medicine kahapon.
“As a government official and Cabinet member, and as a Filipino, it is my duty to announce that yesterday late afternoon, April 8, 2020, I was informed by the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine that I am positive for SARS-COV-2, the causative agent of COVID-19.”
Ito umano ang resulta ng ikalawang test kay Briones.
Unang nagpasuri si Briones noong Marso 13 matapos na ma-exposed ang mga miyembro ng Executive Committee sa isang nagpositibo sa COVID-19. Kasama ni Briones na nagpa-test ang mga miyembro ng Gabinete at negatibo ang resulta na lumabas noong Marso 16.
“With a few close in staff, I stayed in a satellite office to conduct my duties as Secretary of the Department.”
Noong Abril 2 ay muli siyang nagpa-test matapos inanunsyo ng miyembro ng gabinete na nagpositibo ito. “He and I attended an urgent and critical meeting of select Cabinet officials on March 23. My test result, as I said, was positive.”
Nananatili umanong asymptomatic si Briones. “My body temperature, which is taken three times a day, remains normal.”
“I am going on isolation. However, like my fellow Cabinet member, I will continue working — virtually attend IATF meetings, preside over the DepEd EXECOM and MANCOM, and make all decisions necessary to keep DepEd in full operation.”
Nanawagan si Briones sa mga taong nakasalamuha nito na sumailaim sa quarantine sa bahay. Nagsasagawa na umano ng contract tracing ang Department of Health.
“It is my hope and my fervent prayer that we will recover as a nation and that our spirit of bayanihan will pull us through. With God’s grace, we will all heal as one.”