HRET offices on lockdown due to possible Covid-19 case

“As HRET Chair, I ordered the lockdown of the HRET premises for disinfection and quarantine of all its personnel for 14 days due to a possible case of Covid-19 last Tuesday afternoon,” Leonen said in a message to reporters. (File photo by House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal – http://www.hret.gov.ph/, Public Domain)

MANILA – The House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal (HRET) offices in Quezon City have been placed on lockdown due to a possible case of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), Supreme Court Associate Justice Marvic Leonen said Thursday.

“As HRET Chair, I ordered the lockdown of the HRET premises for disinfection and quarantine of all its personnel for 14 days due to a possible case of Covid-19 last Tuesday afternoon,” Leonen said in a message to reporters.

He added that essential staff will work from home, adding that the person may have been infected after a staff-wide rapid test was conducted a week ago.

“He was a liaison between government offices. We have also informed the other government agency involved. We will inform all the litigants and their lawyers,” Leonen said.

Meanwhile, judges and court personnel in Makati City were directed to undergo self-quarantine for 14 days.

In a memorandum, Makati Regional Trial Court Executive Judge Elmo Alameda and Metropolitan Trial Court (MeTC) Executive Judge Jackie Crisologo-Saguisag also ordered contact tracing after a court employee tested positive for Covid-19 in rapid testing.

The lockdown took effect on Thursday and will last until July 8.

On June 10, Saguisag requested the city government to conduct disinfection of court premises located at the city hall’s 10th to 15th floors, after a prosecutor assigned at the MeTC tested positive for Covid-19.