Coronavirus: Philippines’ Rodrigo Duterte in quarantine following exposure to Covid-19
- The president was exposed to a household staff member who tested positive for Covid-19 on January 30, but tested negative over the following two days
- The 76-year-old Duterte, whose six-year term ends in June, was double vaccinated with Sinopharm last year, and received a booster shot in January
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is under quarantine after being exposed to a household staff member who tested positive for Covid-19, his spokesman said on Thursday.
Duterte, 76, has since tested negative for Covid-19, but is “currently observing mandatory quarantine protocols”, presidential spokesman Karlo Nograles said.
“The chief executive continues to work while in quarantine, and is in constant communication with the members of the Cabinet to ensure that urgent matters are addressed,” he added.
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Duterte was also monitoring “the implementation of his directives, particularly with regard to the government’s Covid-19 response”, Nograles said. Duterte was exposed to the household staff member on January 30, and tested negative the following two days, he added.
Under quarantine protocols, a person exposed to a Covid-positive individual must quarantine for at least five days if they are vaccinated and do not have symptoms.
The president, whose six-year term ends in June, was double vaccinated with Sinopharm last year, and received a booster shot in January.
On Thursday, the Department of Health reported 8,702 additional Covid-19 cases, bringing the country’s total caseload to more than 3.58 million since the start of the pandemic. The death toll rose by 71 to 54,168, it added. Cases have been declining after a surge due to the Christmas holidays and the highly transmissible Omicron variant.
More than 53 per cent of the country’s total population has been double vaccinated against Covid-19 as of Wednesday, the department said. The government was expected to start giving Covid-19 jabs to children aged from 5 to 11 years old on Friday, but postponed the plan to next week due to logistical problems.
The health department said the arrival of the Pfizer vaccines reformulated for children was delayed, and it needed time to prepare and distribute the vaccines.
“Vaccinating children is critical to the country’s national vaccination programme to ensure they have the added protection they need against Covid-19,” it said in a statement. Despite the delay, the government “remains committed to ensure that all Filipinos, including the children, get vaccinated”, it added.
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The postponement comes as two parents filed a petition in a local court seeking a restraining order against the government’s plan to vaccinate children. The petition also asked the court to declare the vaccination plan as unconstitutional.
The petition particularly objects to a provision in the health department’s circular that allows a government representative to give consent for vaccination of children in case they want to get vaccinated but their parents or guardians refuse.
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“Taking away such right to refuse consent from the parents/guardians is the same as making the vaccination mandatory,” the petition said. They also rejected the “waiver on liability in case of serious illness, permanent disability, or death” that comes with the vaccination.
“We recognise their right to file a case, and we will wait for the legal process to take its course,” the health department said.
“However, as far as the national government is concerned, we remain steadfast in our commitment to protect all sectors of society, which includes children and other vulnerable groups,” it added.
