Senate reduces number of employees going to office

The number of Senate employees going to their office and even to the Senate Session Hall will be further reduced amid the rising COVID-19 case there, Senate President Vicente Sotto III said Wednesday.

At the Senate session, Sotto read out the memorandum from the Senate secretariat, which recommended further reducing the number of workers who come to their office to curb cases against them.

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The Senate Medical and Dental Bureau’s (MDB) recommendation also includes reducing the number of employees in the Senate from the current 50 percent to 25 percent except for offices where the staff actually need to go to their office, especially when there is a session.

Only employees directly involved in the Senate session will be allowed to enter the session hall.

According to MDB records, the Senate currently has 39 active cases against its employees as of September 1.

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“Majority … are the secretariat employees. The MDB likewise directed 168 employees to undergo quarantine,” said Sotto.

In the Bills and Index Division, with 32 employees, its service chief and 19 other staff are quarantined because 10 have tested positive for COVID-19.

“If there [are] no objections, I concur and will agree to the recommendations of the senate secretariat,” Sotto added.

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Senate reduces number of employees going to office

The country continues to record high cases of COVID-19 due to the spread of the more contagious Delta variant.

On Monday, the Department of Health (DOH) recorded an all-time high of 22,366 new COVID-19 cases.

Meanwhile, Quezon City has reached its target number of residents to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

As of Aug. 31, 1,701,211 had received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in the city. This is equivalent to over 80 percent of its adult population.

About 850,000 of them have also received the second dose.

Since the vaccination program began in March, nearly 2.5 million vaccines have been injected in Quezon City.

According to the local government, vaccination will continue as supply arrives.

The city also encourages its residents and city workers to register if they have not received the vaccine.

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