Lacson advised to get rest, recover after getting exposed to COVID-19

Partido Reporma chairman and standard-bearer Panfilo ‘Ping’ Lacson has been advised to get some rest and recover from sore throat and other symptoms that might manifest after getting himself exposed to COVID-19, party president and Davao del Norte Rep. Pantaleon ‘Bebot’ Alvarez said.

“Actually, Kuyang, tinext ko na si Senator Ping kasi dapat may schedule kami rito sa probinsya ng January 10. Kaya nga lang very risky dahil nga na-expose siya doon sa COVID-positive, so sabi ko magpagaling muna (siya) at magpahinga,” Alvarez told radio host Deo Macalma over DZRH on Wednesday.

[Actually, brother (Deo), I already texted Senator Ping because we have a scheduled activity here in the province on January 10. But it would be very risky (for him to travel) because he was exposed to a COVID-positive (patient), so I told him to recover and just rest for the meantime.]

Lacson held a meeting with ranking officials from his political party and other members of his campaign team at their headquarters in Greenhills, San Juan last Monday before experiencing some symptoms associated with the coronavirus by Tuesday morning.

Among the things discussed is their planned trip to Davao del Norte next week for a scheduled event before public health authorities sounded the alarm over the fresh wave of COVID-19 cases in the country particularly in Metro Manila.

In a statement sent to reporters yesterday, Lacson confirmed that he was a close contact of his eldest son and chief of staff, Ronald Jay, last Sunday. The younger Lacson got sick and immediately underwent an RT-PCR test, which yielded a positive result Monday night.

Lacson said their house helper and driver also got infected. The Partido Reporma chief did not leave their residence since yesterday while waiting for his own test results and immediately advised everyone he came in contact with to monitor themselves and be cautious.

When asked how his isolation would affect the activities of their political party, Alvarez said their ground works would continue as they keep adjusting to the situation to help improve the numbers of their standard-bearer.

“Sa ngayon, Kuyang, patuloy ‘yung aming ground works. Nag-o-organisa kami at gumagawa kami ng structure na siyang magpapaangat sa numero ni Senator Ping at hanggang sa araw ito ng eleksyon,” the former House Speaker told Macalma.

[Right now, brother (Deo), our ground works are continuing. We have been organizing and building a structure that would lift the numbers of Senator Ping until the Election Day itself.]

Prior to his COVID-19 exposure, Lacson already instructed his party mates and other members of his campaign team to defer their scheduled public engagements amid the reported increase of new viral infections in the country, something that other political parties are also inclined to do.

This comes after the national government placed Metro Manila and nearby provinces of Bulacan, Cavite and Rizal under Alert Level 3 restrictions this week until January 15 on the advice of public health authorities due to the threat of the Omicron variant.

“I support the halting of ground activities like motorcades by the campaign teams of those running in the May 9 elections. We have been advocating this by holding online dialogues with different sectors,” Lacson said in a statement.

The presidential aspirant likewise reminded citizens to not be complacent and take the threat of the COVID-19 Omicron variant seriously by wearing their masks properly in public spaces, observing social distancing protocols, and washing their hands frequently.

“On top of that, national and local governments must embark on an aggressive mass testing, mass contact tracing and mass booster shots. The process to vaccinate five- to 11-year-olds must be accelerated,” he told reporters in a separate message.

The Department of Health (DOH) said the country is now at high-risk classification from its low-risk status the previous week. On January 4, it reported 5,434 new infections, the highest in over two months or since October 23 last year.

This brings the total number of confirmed active COVID-19 cases in the country to 29,809. The positivity rate also spiked at 26.5 percent, according to official data released by DOH on Tuesday. It said this is already driven by the highly infectious Omicron variant.

The DOH also projected the numbers to peak by the end of the month. Because of these unwelcome developments, Lacson stressed the importance of public cooperation and proactive leadership to keep the transmission rates of the virus and its variants under control.

“We cannot afford to let the pandemic continue devastating not just our health but also our economy. The Department of Trade and Industry has estimated the economic loss in Metro Manila alone to reach 100,000 affected workers and at least P200 million in potential revenues,” he said.

“Now more than ever the government and the public need to work together to beat this COVID-19 menace. A proactive leadership with a data-driven approach, plus cooperation from the public, is the key,” Lacson underscored.