MANILA, Philippines — Fifteen personnel of the Presidential Security Group have caught COVID-19 but none of them are from President Rodrigo Duterte's security detail.
Col. Randolph Cabangbang, PSG commander, said the infected personnel, who came from a holiday break, were fully vaccinated and did not exhibit COVID-19 symptoms.
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"After undergoing the mandatory quarantine for seven days, they were administered RT-PCR Tests, and 15 personnel have yielded positive test results," Cabangbang said in a statement issued Thursday.
"They are not in any way detailed with the president," he added.
The Philippines has seen COVID-19 cases shoot up after the holidays. The increase in cases has been attributed to increased mobility over the holidays, lax observance of health measures like physical distancing, and the entry of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.
Cabangbang said the PSG Task Force COVID-19 is attending to the infected personnel in accordance with the protocols set by the government's pandemic task force and the health department.
He added that the PSG is strictly adhering to the highest standards of performing its primary mandate of protecting the president.
Composed of personnel from the different uniformed services, the Presidential Security Group is tasked with protecting the president and his family as well as visiting diginitaries.
The unit was criticized in late 2020 for taking unauthorized vaccines ahead of everybody else. Investigations into alleged smuggling of COVID-19 vaccines went nowhere.