Despite a remarkable decline in COVID-19 cases, the House of Representatives is not letting its guard down against the coronavirus amid threats of new and more contagious variants.
House Secretary General Mark Llandro Mendoza said the detection of the COVID-19 variant in the country has prompted Speaker Lord Allan Velasco to order a stricter enforcement of health and safety protocols within the Batasang Pambansa Complex in Quezon City, even if the number of cases in the legislative chamber went down by almost two-thirds based on the results of the second mass testing it conducted on House members and employees from January 18 to 27.
“Coronavirus cases in the House have been brought down quite remarkably but because of the new strain, we cannot be complacent,” Mendoza said.
“Speaker Velasco said we must continue or even intensify our efforts to prevent the spread of COVID-19, especially now that a new variant of coronavirus is gaining a foothold in the country,” he added.
The Department of Health (DOH) had earlier confirmed domestic transmission of the new and more infectious COVID-19 variant first reported in the United Kingdom.
Mendoza, meanwhile, reported that 34 individuals tested positive for COVID-19 out of 2,848 who went through the gold-standard reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction or RT-PCR test during the second mass testing held in the chamber.
“This is equivalent to a positivity rate of only 1.19 percent, which is way below the 5 percent positivity rate recorded during the first mass testing,” Mendoza said.
It will be recalled that 98 out of 2,000 House members and employees tested positive for coronavirus during the mass testing conducted on November 10-20, 2020. All 98 positive cases have since recovered.
Mendoza attributed the decline in coronavirus cases in the House to the effective implementation of its COVID-19 management program using the tried-and-tested “test, trace and treat” approach.
Almost all cases in the second mass testing were asymptomatic, similar to the first mass testing, Mendoza said.
According to the House official, all those who tested positive were brought to isolation facilities to avoid possible transmission and immediate tracing of their close contacts was conducted.
“Throughout the testing period, we were coordinating closely with our Barangay Health Emergency Response Team and followed DOH protocols,” he added.
It was only last November when the House, under Velasco’s leadership, conducted its first mass testing since the pandemic started in March 2020.
From March to early October last year, no mass testing was done in the House as most members and employees were discouraged from reporting for work.
After he assumed the speakership last October 12, Velasco made sure that those who were eager to work are tested for the virus to ensure their safety while the legislative mill continues to grind.
Aside from regular testing, the House has been implementing strict health protocols to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in all the offices and buildings within the Batasan Complex.
Visitors are required to present a negative COVID-19 Antigen test result before they are granted access to the offices inside the complex.
All those entering the House need to wear masks and face shields, pass through thermal scanners and disinfection machines, and observe physical distancing at all times.
House members, employees and guests are required to submit an accomplished health declaration form to inform the chamber of their health status before being allowed entry into the premises.
Cleaning and disinfection of all offices and buildings within the complex are done on a daily basis.
The House is also conducting a hybrid session that combines physical presence with teleconferencing, thus allowing it to continue its constitutional mandate amid the pandemic with due consideration on the health and safety of its members and staff.