The Philippine Consulate General in New York continued its 14-day mandatory lockdown after one of its employees tested positive for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) last March 12.

• Diplomat from Philippines first known coronavirus case at U.N. in New York

Deputy Consul General Kerwin Tate said all consulate employees were instructed to self-isolate in their own homes including the unnamed COVID-19 positive employee.

"With regard to our colleague who got infected, I am glad to state that she has shown signs of improvement. Thank goodness, (she’s taking her medicines, and is in constant contact with her doctor). We expect her hopefully to make a fully recovery from her infection," Tate said.

According the online U.N. directory of diplomatic staff, there are about 12 diplomats at the Filipino mission, which is on 5th Avenue in Midtown Manhattan. The sick diplomat represented the Philippines in the U.N. General Assembly's legal affairs committees.

The deputy consul general said the state of New York is no longer conducting contact tracing. The consulate's clients must now presume that they have been exposed to the virus, and conduct themselves accordingly -- observing sanitation and social distancing procedures.

"With regard to our kababayans who transacted business with the consulate during the period (New York) state has already announced that they are no longer doing contact tracing. We have gone way past that point, with the number of cases that appeared in the (New York) area," he said.

"We have moved from containment to mitigation so we are now moving on to measures that hopefully will control the spread of the virus or lessen the spread of the virus in the New York area. This will require an effort in everybody’s part."

To date, Tate said, none of the consulate officers and staff have exhibited any of the symptoms of the said virus.

He added that there are now more than 1,357 positive cases of COVID-19 in the ten states covered by the consulate.

"And that number is climbing fast every day, so we are constantly monitoring these developments. We urge all our kababayan to also monitor developments," he said.

Meanwhile, consular services such as passport applications and renewals as well as Philippine visas are suspended until further notice.

"For urgent matters, we ask our kababayans to make appointments with the nearest Philippine foreign service post which is the Philippine embassy in Washington D.C. but you have to make appointments because they are also observing their own protocols," he said.

The Philippine Embassy in Washington D.C. can be reached via email consular at ph-embassy-us.org or for consular emergencies call 1-202-368-2767.

"If it’s truly an emergency you can call the number 917.294.0196 ... but please we ask you to limit calls to true emergencies," he said.

Tate said the local consulate building underwent a full sanitation process that was completed last Sunday, using cleaning compounds that kill the novel coronavirus.