MANILA - Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri on Friday said he has recovered from symptoms of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) but would extend his 2-week long isolation “just to be absolutely sure.”

Under the Department of Health’s (DOH) policy, confirmed COVID-19 patients who have recovered from the disease must undergo 2 confirmatory tests before they can be considered as “recovered” patients.

“I am now on my 16th day of isolation but I have decided to extend it to 21 days just to be absolutely sure that i no longer have any symptoms,” he said.

“For the record, I feel good and my last symptoms were on March 11 and 12,” he said.

The senator earlier said succeeding tests he would take would come from privately-sourced kits after politicians were bashed online for using government's limited swabbing kits despite being asymptomatic.

• Senators clarify, apologize for taking COVID-19 tests

Zubiri urged the public to remain at home, saying isolating infected patients “is the only way we can stop the spread of the virus.”

“I can’t emphasize enough that we must all stay home and quarantine ourselves from this deadly virus,” the senator said.

“The lives of our people and most especially of our frontliners depend on it,” he said.

Zubiri bared his diagnosis on March 16. He earlier said he had taken paracetamol for body aches but did not disclose if he went to hospital.

Another COVID-19 patient in the Senate, Sen. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, earlier received heavy condemnation for going to the Makati Medical Center and a supermarket despite showing symptoms of COVID-19. He later tested positive for the disease.

• 'RECKLESS': Makati Med chastises Pimentel for entering hospital, violating COVID-19 quarantine protocol

A third senator, Sen. Sonny Angara, has also tested positive for the coronavirus.