Lorenzana tests positive; Año returning to work

MANILA, Philippines — Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana yesterday tested positive for COVID-19 and said he would go into quarantine.

“The result of my RT-PCR test today came up positive. I will be undergoing isolation, following the quarantine guidelines to avoid infecting others,” Lorenzana wrote in a press statement.

Lorenzana, also head of the National Task Force Against COVID-19, asked all his close contacts to isolate themselves and be tested.

The Department of National Defense will operate in a skeleton workforce while following health protocols, he said.

Meanwhile, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año, who contracted COVID-19 last year, is set to return to work this month once his doctors issue clearance.

Jonathan Malaya, Department of the Interior and Local Government undersecretary and spokesman, said Año is on his way to full recovery and is raring to get back to work.

“He intends to return to work in the middle of this month and is just awaiting clearance,” he said in a text message.

Año was hit twice by COVID-19 last year – first in March when he recovered after a month and again in August when he spent some time in hospital.

DILG undersecretary Bernardo Florece Jr. has been managing the affairs of the department as its officer-in-charge.