PNP virus death toll rises to 46

Two more police officers succumbed to the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), bringing the Philippine National Police’s (PNP) death toll to 46, an official said on Tuesday.

Lt. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, PNP deputy chief for administration, said the latest fatalities are a 48-year-old male police commissioned officer assigned at the Legal Service and a 47-yearold male PCO assigned at the Explosive Ordnance Division/K9 Group, who both died on Monday.

PNP chief Gen. Debold Sinas said the police lieutenant from the Legal Service tested positive for Covid-19 on 12 March and was confined at a private hospital in Pasig City.

“On behalf of the PNP, we would like to give our condolences to the bereaved family and assure them (of) every assistance they need. The PNP leadership is doing everything to mitigate this virus especially on our personnel, as front-liners, one death is one too many,” Sinas added.

Meanwhile, Eleazar said 272 police personnel have recovered from the Covid-19 as of Monday night.

This brings the number of recovered police personnel to 15,200, out of a total of 17,637 cases.

The police force also logged 235 new Covid-19 infections, raising the total number of active cases to 2,391, he said.

Meanwhile, Eleazar also said the number of police officers vaccinated against Covid-19 has reached 6,734.

These include 5,085 police officers vaccinated with Sinovac vaccines and 1,649 with AstraZeneca jabs.

Of the 5,085 police officers injected with Sinovac, around 1,500 were already given their second dose.