Pangilinan: Police, military frontliners need better protection vs COVID-19
MANILA, Philippines — Security agencies enforcing protocols under the coronavirus-induced quarantine—particularly those from the military and the national police—should have more stringent health measures for its frontliners as cases in their ranks continue to rise, a lawmaker said Sunday.
This comes after Police Regional Office 2 in Tuguegarao, Cagayan implemented a lockdown of Tuguegarao City Police Station when all of its personnel were been infected with COVID-19.
READ: Entire Tuguegarao police force infected
The Joint Task Force COVID Shield, the quarantine enforcement arm of the coronavirus task force which includes both agencies, also continues to pursue "the strictest enforcement of quarantine rules" after deploying police officers to serve as "quarantine rules supervisors" in each barangay.
"We are concerned and concerned about the news that more and more of our police officers are positive for COVID-19. They are a big part of the government's pandemic response. But what happens to plans if they get sick one after another while performing their duties?," Sen. Francis Pangilinan said in a statement in a mix of Filipino and English.
"There has to be a better, clearer, safer way to go about the new normal."
READ: DILG touts contact tracing and testing; COVID Shield wants stricter enforcement
Apart from a daily triage area in its headquarters in Camp Crame, the Philippine National Police currently runs its own testing laboratories and quarantine facilities.
Starting August 17, the PNP has also implemented a 'no face shield, no entry policy' at the camp. The PNP has also streamlined its frontline administrative services within the camp by implementing, among others, a maximum limit on transactions per day.
At the beginning of August, Police Gen. Archie Gamboa, PNP chief, said: “We see that there’s a need to adopt more measures and protocols designed to extensively reduce if not eliminate person to person transactions inside Camp Crame, particularly among the many PNP frontline services to contain the threat of COVID-19 resurgence inside Camp Crame."
As of the PNP's latest tally update on Saturday night, the number of coronavirus cases in the PNP stands at 4,004.
Of this, 2,752 have recovered and 16 have passed away. There are still 670 probable cases and 2,947 suspect cases that have yet to be confirmed.
READ: PNP to fast-track new COVID testing lab after recording 33 new cases
The agency also added 150 new patients to its caseload that day, 55 of whom were members of the National Capital Region Police Office.
"Their health and safety are important so we need a more concrete way to deal with the new normal. The new normal should be better," Pangilinan said.
"How can we reduce the threat of COVID-19 for all our frontliners, including the police? If this is our new normal, there has to be a better normal. Intensify contact tracing especially locally. The government was given the resources to do exactly that, and we expect them to follow through," he added.
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