Moises Padilla Mayor Ella Celestina Garcia-Yulo has tested positive for COVID-19 along with her husband and daughter.
The Philippine Red Cross informed them early Thursday, June 3, of their Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) test results, she said.
Yulo said her office is temporarily closed until further notice as all her staff are currently in isolation and will undergo RT-PCR testing to protect the public’s health.
The Registrar’s Office has also been closed because she went there on Monday, Yulo said.
“We will resume operations once our local health officer has given us clearance to do so,” she added.
Garcia said she and her husband had slight fevers on Tuesday and immediately underwent antigen tests with their 21-year-old daughter that had positive results, so on Wednesday they were swabbed for RT-PCR tests.
The three of them have slight coughs and are in isolation, she said.
The mayor said more than 20 of her close contacts were swabbed for RT-PCR tests on Thursday and more will be tested on Friday.
“Our government has been fighting the battle with COVID-19 for more than a year and we are almost exhausting our resources in order to protect the health of the public as well as help our citizens with this overwhelming ordeal, but our government can only do so much if the citizens of this country refuse to cooperate even in the most simplest of protocols,” she said.
Yulo reiterated the need to wear face masks, practice social distancing and frequent hand washing, and to avoid mass gatherings.
“This virus does not discriminate, and no amount of money can resolve this problem except the will of our people,” she said.
Yulo said she is also encouraging everyone to avail of the free anti-COVID vaccines of the government to prevent hospitalization and even death.
“This virus is here to stay and as history dictates, only through immunization can humanity survive,” she said.*