Roque ''shocked and surprised'' with positive COVID-19 result
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque on Monday announced that he tested positive for COVID-19.
In a press briefing, Roque said he received the result of his test last Sunday.
"I am very much shocked and surprised that I tested positive... I had confirmatory antigen test and it also tested positive," he said.
Roque said he is asymptomatic and alone in his office in Malacanang. He
said he will go to an isolation facility.
He said the testing was intended for President Rodrigo Duterte's meeting on Monday night.
"Last March 10 we underwent testing because we will join President Durterte in Dumaguete City on March 11... We tested negative on March 10," Roque said.
"This test where we tested positive is just yesterday for President Duterte's meeting today," he added.
Asked if he is ready to receive the COVID-19 vaccine once he recovers, Roque said he regretted not getting this during the first day of vaccination rollout.
"If I received the vaccine, maybe I am not infected now... It is sad but we have a protocol to prioritize the medical frontliners," he said.
He told medical frontliners to receive the vaccine so they will not have the same fate as him.
Roque said he will still do his functions as spokesperson of the president.
"I will probably not be as effective because I will not be attending the meetings and I will not be physically be with the president but I will follow the live coverages," he said.
Roque said he has yet to inform Duterte about his condition.
Roque encouraged those who have contacts with him to undergo quarantine. DMS
