QC solon COVID positive
QUEZON City Representative Alfred Vargas tested positive for COVID-19 and is now in isolation.
In a statement, Vargas said he is asymptomatic and he is strictly following all prescribed safety protocols.
Vargas, chairman of the House committee on social services, said he will continue to work while in isolation so that services needed by his constituents will still be provided.
“While we have long been working with experts and civil servants in making policy solutions to address this pandemic, this battle against the SARS-COV2 virus has only come closer to home,” he said.
“Para sa ating mga naka-quarantine, isama po natin sa ating mga panalangin ang isa’t isa at ang ating mga pamilya. Para sa ating lahat, sama-sama, tulong-tulong, at puno ng pananampalataya nating malalampasan ang pandemyang ito,” he added.
Meanwhile, Ang Probinsiyano party-list appealed to the national government to invest in providing free antigen and RT-PCR tests to the people, especially those with symptoms.
AP Rep. Ronnie Ong said that that declaring another quarantine lockdown in Metro Manila and its nearby areas because of the recent surge in Covid-19 cases, would only destroy the momentum of the country’s micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), which represents 99.5 percent of all businesses in the country and employs more than 62 percent of the total labor force.
Mass testing would allow health authorities to properly segregate and isolate those who are sick without disrupting the lives and livelihood of those who are Covid-free.
Ong said that after the country shifted to alert level 3, MSMEs flourished anew and the country’s economy was getting back on track. Another lockdown, he said, can have serious and unbearable setbacks on the country’s economic recovery especially on MSMEs whose capital have already been depleted because of the series of quarantine lockdowns.
“Many businesses are still barely recovering and have invested everything they have just to recover from almost 2 years of financial hemorrhage. I just wish that government should also look at their plight and support them by providing free antigen and RT-PCR tests to all. Let us not disrupt the people who are Covid-free by providing free and periodic mass testing,” Ong said.
Ong said that instead of resorting to sweeping community quarantines, the Inter-agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) should manage the Covid-19 problem through massive vaccination, mass testing, and effective contact tracing.
