Roque in isolation after member of security detail tests positive for COVID-19

MANILA, Philippines — Presidential spokesman Harry Roque on Monday disclosed that he is in isolation after a member of his security detail tested positive for COVID-19. 

"I don't have any symptoms but we're following protocol po," Roque said in English and Filipino during a virtual briefing. 

He also announced that President Rodrigo Duterte would be speaking to the public on Monday night. 

These national addresses are usually recorded excerpts from the president's meetings with the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Management of Emerging Infectious Disease.

Roque will not be attending the meeting.

Just two weeks ago, Roque apologized to the chief executive during a virtual briefing, saying he misspoke when he told the public the week before that Duterte was in "perpetual isolation."

The president's spokesman made the comments in response to concerns that the chief executive may have come into contact with Interior Secretary Eduardo Año who tested positive for COVID-19.

In July, the Presidential Security Group confirmed that eight of its personnel assigned to the office of Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea tested positive for novel coronavirus.

Medialdea himself tested negative for the disease.

"PSG also assures the public of the president’s safety despite this unfortunate situation as we continually implement the strict health protocols to our personnel and their dependents to guarantee that the president is safe and healthy," Col. Jesus Durante, PSG commander, said in July. 

He added that the personnel assigned to the president are regularly tested.

"The president’s close-in security personnel further endure being at a separated billeting area to limit their contact even from their comrades and loved ones just to lessen exposure and to ultimately ensure that they do not become the threats, themselves," Durante added.

According to Roque, Duterte is currently preoccupied with numerous appointments and meetings being conducted over the phone. 

Latest data from the Department of Health logs COVID-19 infections in the country at 237, 365 and deaths at 3,875.

It has been 174 days since the Philippine was first placed under lockdown, marking the longest community quarantine period in the world.