Senator Imee Marcos has tested positive for COVID-19, Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri said on Monday.
Zubiri disclosed the information after the roll call for the day’s Senate session.
“Senator Imee Marcos, for the record, had written to us that she had tested positive for COVID-19,” Zubiri said.
“[She] is asking if she should still have to go on cam because she has raging fever. Maybe she can acknowledge, just acknowledge that she is online so we can mark her as present without having to open cam,” he added.
Senator Marcos was the second senator to test positive for COVID-19 after the 19th Congress opened on June 25.
After the roll call Zubiri declared that Marcos will be virtually present.
While not expounding on her condition, Marcos then greeted everyone and said, “See you soon.”
Earlier, Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano was also found positive for the coronavirus.
Cayetano is yet to attend the sessions.
To avert the spread of the virus, the Senate leadership imposed stricter health protocols inside the Senate building.
Visitors entering the building have to present results of RT-PCR (swab tests) for the next 48 hours or anti-gen test results within the next 24 hours, issued by a DOH-accredited hospital.
Loitering at the hallways of the six-storey Senate building was not allowed.
Sen. Chiz Escudero, who had also tested positive for COVID-19 failed to attend the Senate sessions as he had gone on isolation.