FILE PHOTO
Detained former senator Leila de Lima has contracted the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).
De Lima said in a dispatch from her detention cell at the Philippine National Police Custodial Center in Camp Crame that she started to experience Covid-19 symptoms on November 5.
“I started having colds (runny nose), mild cough, itchy throat and joint/body aches short of feverish, which prompted the tests,” de Lima said.
The former senator tested positive in both her antigen and RT-PCR tests on Sunday.
“When attending recent hearings in the two remaining trumped-up charges, with practically jampacked courtrooms, I felt it was just a matter of time before contracting the virus,” she added.
The Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court Branch 256 issued an order on Monday stating that the former senator’s case hearing set on Nov. 7 would be rescheduled to Nov. 21 and Dec. 5 due to health and safety protocol.
— Ronald Espartinez