116 Office of Civil Defense staff, including exec, test positive for COVID-19
MANILA, Philippines — More than 100 employees of the Office of Civil Defense, including its administrator, Undersecretary Ricardo Jalad tested positive for COVID-19, prompting a lockdown of the agency’s premises until August 30 for disinfection.
Services of the OCD, however, will continue through its online channels while employees resort to working from home, spokesperson Mark Timbal said.
Timbal also said Friday morning that Jalad is one of the 116 employees who tested positive for the coronavirus. “He has mild symptoms and is currently in isolation,” he added.
Employees who were infected were immediately brought to an isolation facility, the spokesperson said, adding that 80% of them are asymptomatic.
Timbal explained that the OCD regularly conducts antigen tests to ensure that its 30% skeleton workforce reporting on a rotation schedule is protected.
Two tested positive on the initial rapid test, prompting the agency to conduct RT-PCR test for all of its 114 staff reporting as skeleton workforce. Off-duty personnel totaling 104 people also requested to undergo COVID-19 test, bringing the total number of employees tested to 218.
The OCD Central Office has 380 workers.
As of Thursday 7pm, 116 Civil Defense staff tested positive for COVID-19 while 85 were waiting for results.
Timbal however stressed that OCD services will continue through its online channels. “The 24/7 NDRRMC Operations Center, on the other hand, will continue to provide regular DRRM monitoring and coordination services,” he added.
Health authorities on Thursday reported 16,313 new coronavirus infections, pushing the national tally to 1,899,200. Of these, 131,921 are deemed active cases. — Kristine Joy Patag
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