Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong, who is also leading the country's contact tracing efforts, said Saturday he tested positive for COVID-19.
Magalong said he was tested on Friday and received his results on the same day. He saidhis close contacts were being traced.
"It is with a sad note that I would like to inform everyone that as of my RT-PCR test conducted yesterday morning (April 2, 2021), to which my results came out at 4:30 p.m. of the same day, I was tested positive of the COVID-19 virus," Magalong said in a statement.
Several government officials on the frontlines of the country's fight against COVID-19 earlier contracted the disease and have recovered, including Interior Sec. Eduardo Año.
On Friday, the country recorded its highest single-day tally in new COVID-19 cases with 15,310. But the Department of Health said 3,709 of the new cases were backlogs due to a glitch in the data management system.
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Magalong assured Baguio locals that the city government remains on top of the COVID-19 situation.
"...despite the predicament I am in, please be rest assured that we are still monitoring closely the City’s situation and coordinating to the proper authorities the necessary things to be done," he said.