Philippines' 3rd cabinet member tests positive for COVID-19

MANILA - The Philippine Public Works and Highways Secretary Mark Villar on Wednesday said he had tested positive for COVID-19, becoming the country's third infected cabinet member.

"I regret to announce that today, July 15, I received my test result and it is positive for COVID-19," Villar said on his Facebook page on Wednesday morning.

In April, the Philippine Education Secretary Leonor Briones also tested positive for the coronavirus after the Secretary of the Interior and Local Government Eduardo Ano was found to have contracted the virus.

Both the Briones and Ano had already recovered.

The country's Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana and the Armed Forces of the Philippines chief of staff Felimon Santos on Tuesday said that they had decided to self-isolate after they were exposed to a military aide who tested positive for the virus.

The Philippines now has 57,545 confirmed COVID-19 cases, including 1,603 deaths and 20,459 recoveries.