A large number of Office of Civil Defense (OCD) personnel tested positive for COVID-19 including OCD Administrator and National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) Executive Director Undersecretary Ricardo Jalad.
National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (NDRRMC) Spokesperson Mark Timbal confirmed on Thursday (Aug. 26) that 116 out of 380 OCD personnel yielded a COVID-19 positive result. He said that 80% of the COVID-19 positive personnel are asymptomatic.
With the large number of COVID positive staff, the OCD Central Office will remain temporarily closed until Aug. 30 for disinfection.
According to Timbal, the organization regularly conducts rapid antigen testing as part of its procedures in ensuring the protection of the 30% skeletal workforce.
“During an initial rapid test, 2 employees tested positive, prompting OCD to conduct a confirmatory RT-PCR test for all our skeletal workforce (numbering to 114 people) last Tuesday (Aug. 24). With the announcement of the conduct of RT-PCR, other off-duty personnel (numbering to 104 persons) also requested to be tested bringing the total count of tested personnel to 218,” Timbal explained.
In relation to this, Jalad issued a statement on Friday (Aug. 27) saying that he is currently in isolation while experiencing mild symptoms.
He assured that the 24/7 NDRRMC Operations Center is still “fully functional” despite the news.
“OCD Central’s services continue and are being managed by our 308-strong workforce because even those who are under quarantine are still able to do their tasks remotely. We assure our people that we are not hindered in any way to serve. We will overcome COVID-19.”
Report from Patrick de Jesus/NGS-rir
