Vice presidential aspirant Dr. Willie Ong revealed he has tested positive for COVID-19.
On a Facebook Live, Ong said it's already his day two of isolation after his nasal and oral swab came out positive via antigen test.
"Nagla-live ako dahil sa tingin ko, may lesson din naman at maituro ko sa inyo, habang yung hindi pa tinatamaan, maka-ingat pa ng konti. Iba yung inaral ko sa Covid, iba yung na-experience mo mismo. Iba ‘yung libro, iba ‘yung aktwal," he said.
[I am doing live because I think there is a lesson I need to tell you, especially for those who haven't got infected, so they can be more careful. This is different from what I studied about COVID, different from what I experienced. It's different from the book and the actual.]
According to Ong, he was very careful when going outside his residence yet he still contracted the viral illness.
"Actually, maingat naman talaga ako. Lagi akong naka-N95 [mask] always pag lumalabas pero parang matindi talaga ‘tong Omicron, matindi siya pumasok," he said.
Ong also took time to warn his viewers about the Omicron variant, which he said is “not mild” and is “worse” than flu.
"Kalokohan ‘yung binabasa ninyo sa Google, sa internet. Mas matindi ito kaysa flu. Ito ang pinakamatindi kong sakit. Masakit sa ulo. May sipon sya pero matindi ‘yung ubo. May plema na ako, wala na rin akong boses," he continued.
In the end, he advised the public, especially those who are also sick with COVID-19 to drink lots of water and take medicines like paracetamol for fever, expectorants for coughs, among others, as well as vitamins.
On Thursday, the Philippines registered another record-high 34,021 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the Philippines' caseload to 3,092,409.