Cebu City cops undergo mass swab testing

CEBU, Philippines — The Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) has conducted mass swab testing among its police personnel at their headquarters starting Friday.

This is after two police officers of CCPO had tested positive for COVID-19 virus the past days.

Police Lt. Colonel Wilbert Parilla, deputy director for operations of CCPO, said that some police personnel also claimed to have flu-like symptoms similar to COVID-19 symptoms.

Parilla, however, emphasized that there will be no suspension or changes on their police functions and services.

Should more police personnel test positive, their workloads will be adjusted according to the unit's chief.

"Ubay-ubay na sad atong kapulisan nga nag-positive..so ang directive karon sa atong City Director nga ang tanan nato nga mga personnel nga naa ron diri sa atong headquarters," said Parilla.

He said that the mass-testing started yesterday and they are just waiting for their results. The results will determine whether they will be isolated and quarantined.

According to Parilla, the swab testing is mandatory among their almost 1,050 police personnel.

"This is mandatory kay himuon man sad ni sa uban nga basehan nga magbalatuba, nga naay gamay sip-on di na musulod nya dili diay COVID, so maong ipa swab nato kay ang mag positive maoy atong i-isolate or i-quarantine," said Parilla.

Further, Parilla assured that the workloads will be stretched out among the available police personnel once the results are released so that their duties will not be hampered in all offices.

As of this writing, visits to the persons under police custody (PUPC) have been suspended as part of the preventive measures taken by the CCPO. — GMR (FREEMAN)