MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Education (DepEd) on Tuesday, April 7, said that the 7,704 delegates to the National Schools Press Conference (NSPC) and National Festival of Talents (NFOT) held in March were cleared of coronavirus. 

“We are happy to report that 7,074 delegates of NFOT and NSPC have all cleared their precautionary quarantine without any symptom having developed,” the DepEd said in a statement sent to reporters.

The attendees of NSPC and NFOT were placed under home quarantine after a schools division official in Mandaluyong City, who attended these national events, tested positive for COVID-19.

The DepEd said that while the quarantine period for the delegates had long been completed, they “still continued to monitor a very small number of delegates still classified as patients under investigation who are either under observation, treatment or awaiting medical clearance, but we are not informed whether any test have been conducted.”

The two national events pushed through despite the heightened alert because the “participants are already in the venue” when DOH confirmed that COVID-19 cases in the country had risen to 6.

Both happened from March 9 to 13. The NFOT was held in Ilagan City, Isabela, while the NSPC was held in Tuguegarao City.

According to DepEd, the cases may not be related to the NSPC and NFOT events anymore.

“On the whole, it is reasonable to say that we have, overall, cleared the NSPC/NFOT critical monitoring period, and the heightened precautionary measures we have taken during the event, their travel and after arrival from home have yielded the outcomes we wanted to achieve,” the DepEd said.

As of Monday, the Philippines had 3,660 cases of the coronavirus, with 163 deaths and 73 recoveries. 

On Tuesday morning, the government announced the extension of “enhanced community quarantine” (ECQ) or lockdown for the entire Luzon until April 30, from the original April 12. – Rappler.com

*The original headline erroneously stated that the delegates were cleared of the virus, although the body of the story clearly said they “cleared their precautionary quarantine.”