PH Senator Tests Positive For Coronavirus After Bringing Pregnant Wife To Hospital, Delivery On Hold

The coronavirus has hit globally, and in the Philippines, even its lawmakers aren’t safe. Philippine Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel tested positive for COVID-19, but didn’t know until after he brought his wife to the hospital.

Inquirer reported that his wife, Kathryn, was scheduled to give birth Wednesday morning. Instead, she has been put under isolation and the deliver of their daughter was effectively put on hold. This was after hospital officials found out that the lawmaker tested positive for coronavirus.

Reporters who were waiting for news about the couple’s first baby instead got a different report. Pimentel spoke to them, saying that doctors didn’t push through the procedure when he was found positive with the dreaded virus. Pimentel sent the answer through Viber messaging.

Pimentel asked for prayers and understanding of the situation. When he accompanied his wife to the hospital, that was the only time he learned of his test result. Currently, his wife is under monitoring and she’s about to give birth. He said that she needed prayers, being fully pregnant and alone, not knowing whether she’s also become positive for COVID-19.

CNN Philippines added that he immediately left the hospital right after he received the call from the Research Institute of Tropical Medicine (RITM). The RITM has been leading the way in studying COVID-19 cases in the Philippines.

He was forthcoming about his situation. Currently, he said that he only had a slight sore throat. He didn’t have any fever or chills. He also added that he maintained a healthy diet, kept his immune system boosted, and slept well to add to his recovery.

The senator said that he has tasked his staff to track down people which he came into contact with. Many of his counterparts in the Philippine Senate have decided to start their 14-day home quarantine early this month, after it was found out that a resource person for a committee hearing had tested positive for coronavirus.

The Philippines already has 552 cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, with the death toll rising to 35. Patients who have recovered from the virus has been monitored at 20.