The presiding judge and all personnel of Taguig City regional trial court branch 15 went on self quarantine for two weeks after two of its employees got infected with the coronavirus disease.
In a memorandum dated Sept. 14, Taguig RTC Vice Executive Judge Mariam Bien said the entire Branch 15 personnel "shall undergo self quarantine for a period of 14 days starting Sept. 10 to Sept. 24."
Bien issued the memo after two of the employees of RTC Branch 15 were found positive for COVID-19 during swab testing conducted by the Philippine Red Cross Thursday last week.
"During the entire 14-day period, Branch 15 shall continue its court operations through their hotlines and judiciary email accounts. They are directed to accomplished their respective work from home," the memo stated.
It further stated that previously scheduled hearings will be made via video tele-conferencing
Aside from the 14-day quarantine, all personnel were also told to undergo another round of swab testing, "considering that they were exposed to the two positive cases."
Meanwhile, the city government assured that the needed support andassistance will be provided to enable the courts to better manage any COVID-19 cases and prevent an outbreak.
As of Monday, Taguig recorded 95 new cases and 90 recoveries. It has a total record of 6,166 confirmed cases, 5,629 of them already recovered from the deadly disease.
The new cases came from barangays Bagumbayan (5), Bambang (1), Hagonoy (3), Ibayo (3), Ligid (5), Lower Bicutan (14), New Lower Bicutan (3), Palingon (1), San Miguel (3), Tuktukan (1), Ususan (3), Wawa (2), Central Bicutan (4), Central Signal (3), Maharlika (1), North Signal (2), Pinagsama (8), South Signal (5), Upper Bicutan (13), and Western Bicutan (15).
So far, the local government already conducted more than 44,000 swab tests.
Mayor Lino Edgardo Cayetano reminded his constituents about the health and safety protocols to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and the mandatory reporting of cases.
He also urged residents to avail the free COVID-19 swab testing at health centers from Monday to Friday and the regular drive-thru testing every Wednesday at Bonifacio Global City and every Thursday at Lakeshore in Lower Bicutan.