Over 2,000 cops test positive for COVID
The number of police officers testing positive for coronavirus disease 2019 or COVID-19 has breached the 2,000 mark, according to the Philippine National Police.
PNP chief Gen. Archie Francisco Gamboa said 2,023 PNP personnel have contracted the disease as of yesterday.
Of the figure, 91 tested positive for the virus over the weekend. Thirty-five of them are assigned in Metro Manila including five at Camp Crame in Quezon City.
Gamboa did not give a breakdown on the number of the latest infections.
“As of 6 a.m. today, the virus has infected 2,023 PNP personnel or roughly .88 percent of our total strength,” Gamboa said during a press briefing yesterday.
With 10 fatalities, Gamboa said the overall mortality rate due to COVID-19 in the PNP remains fairly below the national and international averages.
“We continue to quickly restore recovered PNP personnel to full duty status as well as those who have completed quarantine to ensure maximum availability of personnel for police operations and general police functions,” he said.
To ensure immediate treatment for PNP personnel, Gamboa said the PNP would open a second reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction( RTPCR) testing center at Camp Crame.
The new facility will increase the PNP’s testing capacity from 300 to 600 tests per day, he said.
The PNP has only one testing center at Camp Crame. Another one is being constructed in Cebu City.
There have been plans to establish another RT-PCR testing facility in Davao to serve police officers in Mindanao.
Gamboa ordered his men to strictly observe health and safety protocols, especially in training institutions.
He issued the order after 183 of 350 police trainees in Lucena City in Quezon province tested positive for the virus in a span of 10 days.
The infected trainees were immediately isolated from their colleagues to prevent further spread of the virus.
The trainees will undergo another swab tests after completing quarantine for 14 days.
To contain the spread of the virus, the PNP reduced the number of trainees per tent from eight to four.
Instead of buffet, the trainees are served individual meals.
Meanwhile, physical activities at the Philippine National Police Academy (PNPA) in Silang, Cavite have resumed after two plebes, who died recently during training, tested negative for COVID-19.
The activities will continue even as two other cadets tested positive for the virus, according to PNPA director Maj. Gen. Jose Chiquito Malayo.
The plebes were immediately isolated from their fellow cadets.