By Evelyn C. Diao
MULTIMEDIA Star Alden Richards recently announced on Twitter that he tested negative for COVID-19 that made his fans happy.
The test result is a welcome news since Alden has resumed his work after more than three months of community quarantine.
However, his home network GMA7 reported that Alden has set a routine particularly in meeting up his family as part of his precautionary measures against COVID-19. He reports for work on a daily basis on Eat Bulaga apart from other projects under the “new normal.”
Alden states in an interview: “To be honest, whenever I report to work everyday for the past weeks na bumalik kami on air sa ‘Eat Bulaga,’ ayoko pa ring i-put at risk ‘yung mga mahal ko sa buhay, that’s why umuuwi ako sa kanila every two weeks lang.”
Although Eat Bulaga implements strict protocols to prevent its staff from contracting COVID 10, he still practices self-quarantine before meeting his family.
“I don’t want to risk it although sa ‘Eat Bulaga’ we follow strict protocols. Kumpleto kami sa equipment. We have a doctor there, appointed to check all the operations being done all throughout the day, sanitation of hands, masks.
“Before I go home after weeks work sa ‘Eat Bulaga,’ kino-quarantine ko ‘yung sarili ko, kasi I don’t want to risk it kahit pa walang nararamdaman since the symptoms of COVID-19 are asymptomatic. Hindi ‘yan makikita agad,” he said.
“Ayoko rin mag-risk na carrier pala ako. Although maganda ‘yung immune system ko, dala ko ‘yung virus and then naipasa ko siya roon sa mga mababa ang immune system, especially sa kasama kong Lolo and Lola rito sa bahay. I don’t want to risk that.
“’Yun ‘yung precautionary measures that I take because now that I’m going back to work and being more exposed outside, practicing quarantine is really the priority,” he explained.
So we can expect to see more of Alden on television. Apart from Eat Bulaga, another show which Alden is part of, we can watch him on All Out Sunday. He is back on his daily television activities.
There seems to be more busy days for the Pambansang Bae. He revealed in one of the online interviews that a new project will be “coming out soon,” under GMA Productions and it will be on TV.
Alden added that the details have yet to be finalized but he assured he will share them to everybody especially his fans.
He also confessed that this new project is good news for him because he really misses acting.
“I can’t wait to act again. I have not been acting for the past five months and it’s not healthy for me, nami-miss ko siya. What I do to keep the fire burning inside me is to watch films on Netflix, or mga movie channels, mga cable TV, para at least ma-encourage ako to get back to my craft, kasi I really miss it,” Alden lamented.
The TVCs he did before lockdown almost came out one after the other during the quarantine period—the commercial for a shampoo brand with Bea Alonzo, who he desires to work with and the Century tuna ad.
While on lockdown, the Kapuso heartthrob also serves as the newest ambassador of Department of Health’s (DOH) communication campaign against COVID-19 dubbed “BIDA Solusyon,”a joint initiative of the DOH, United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Laging Handa Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF), and National Task Force on COVID-19.
