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NDRRMC chief, 115 other staff test positive for COVID-19

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Jorge Cariño, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="ABS-CBN News/File" src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2021/tvpatrol/08/18/ndrrm.jpg"/><figcaption><em>ABS-CBN News/File</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>MANILA— Over a hundred personnel of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, including its chief, have tested positive for COVID-19, an official said Friday. </p><p>Work, however, continues at the agency which has a crucial role in disaster response. </p><p>“Tuloy pa rin &#x27;yung trabaho, may mga meetings pa din kami ngayong araw. A lot of them are participated in by people who are under quarantine, kasi asymptomatic naman kaming lahat, fully vaccinated. &#x27;Yung mga may mild symptoms lang na naka-encounter ay &#x27;yung may sipon lang at nananakit ang lalamunan,” NDRRMC&#x27;s Public Affairs Director Mark Cashean Timbal said in an online interview on Friday morning.</p><p>(Work continues, we have meetings today, A lot of them are participated in by people who are under quarantine because all of us are asymptomatic, fully vaccinated. Those with mild symptoms have<br/>experienced colds and sore throat.) </p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/08/26/21/116-civil-defense-employees-test-positive-for-covid-19">116 Civil Defense employees test positive for COVID-19</a></li></ul><p>Timbal, who is also the NDRRMC&#x27;s spokesman, had a swab test on Thursday and received a negative result early morning Friday.</p><p>But NDRRMC Executive Director Undersecretary Ricardo Jalad tested positive and is in quarantine.</p><p>“He’s experiencing mild symptoms, sinisipon daw siya. But he’s doing well,” said Timbal.</p><p>As of posting, 116 employees and officials of the disaster agency have tested positive for COVID-19. Timbal said this may increase as they are still consolidating numbers.</p><p>He said most of the 380-strong Civil Defense staff are on work-from-home arrangement, with 30 percent or an equivalent of 114 people only working on-site, in compliance with rules of the Civil Service Commission. </p><p>But Timbal said during contact tracing, many feared that the exposure of other employees maybe during shift transitions. This prompted them to expand the RT-PCR test to 218 people.</p><p>&quot;Ang iniisip din namin yung mga papeles na posibleng nandun sa papel naki-ride-on &#x27;yung virus. At habang nagpipirmahan ng mga dokumento, kahit walang contact &#x27;yung mga tao, sa dokumento na-expose,” said Timbal.</p><p>(We&#x27;re also thinking that maybe the virus was transmitted even without direct contact but through documents for signing. Maybe the documents were exposed to the virus.)</p><p>Timbal said they took extra measures by disinfecting documents using UV light.</p><p>He said the NDRRMC is now exploring the possibility of more paperless transactions to minimize infection.</p><p>The agency&#x27;s central office building in Quezon City is on lockdown and has been disinfected. Only a few personnel are allowed inside. </p><p>&quot;But the Operations Center still remains in full operation, full functionality,&quot; said Timbal.</p><p>The NDRRMC will make arrangements for the families of their COVID-positive employees to be tested next week.</p><div><strong>FROM THE ARCHIVES: </strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=1505560" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div>

The operations at the NDRRMC's central office continues despite the lockdown after more than a hundred of its staff tested positive for COVID-19.

NDRRMC chief, 115 other staff test positive for COVID-19

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NDRRMC chief, 115 other staff test positive for COVID-19

Jorge Cariño,

ABS-CBN News

Published August 27, 2021 01:15 PM PHT

Read More:

NDRRMC

COVID 19

Coronavirus

disaster agency

Mark Timbal

Ricardo Jalad

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