PNP coronavirus cases breach 5,000; more than 3,600 have recovered
MANILA, Philippines — The national police's coronavirus caseload hit 5,000 over the weekend after recording 113 new cases on Sunday evening, its chief said Monday.
According to the Philippine National Police's latest update, there have now been 5,060 confirmed COVID-19 cases among PNP personnel since the new pathogen first emerged in late December.
Of the newly-documented patients, 38 came from the National Capital Region Police Office while 35 were from Camp Olivas or the Police Regional Office 3 in San Fernando, Pampanga. 16 were also recorded in PRO-4A or Camp Vicente Lim in Calamba, Laguna.
The PNP added that among the total cases, 3,623 have since recovered and have returned to full duty status, while 16 have since passed away "due to medical co-morbidities and complications."
"Of the 1,421 active cases at present, 1,387 are under quarantine, while 34 are receiving treatment in medical facilities. It should be noted that recovery rate of PNP COVID cases is at 71.6% consistent with rates posted on a national scale," Police Gen. Camilo Cascolan, the chief of the PNP, said at his weekly press briefing Monday.
This comes as the agency on Friday, September 11, formally opened the PNP Health Service Molecular Laboratory – a new testing hub of the PNP for COVID-19 infections.
In a separate statement, the PNP public information office disclosed that the Cebu PNP Testing Laboratory is also set to receive its license to operate from the Department of Health.
The Joint Task Force COVID Shield, the quarantine enforcement arm of the coronavirus task force which includes the police and military, is gearing up for what it says is "all-out" curfew enforcement with the extension of general community quarantine, under which it has been deploying forces to business districts and transportation hubs.
Speaking in an interview over CNN Philippines after his appointment, Police Gen. Camilo Cascolan, the newly-instated chief of the PNP said: “Obviously, our main problem right now is the Covid-19 pandemic...I will focus on enhancing and developing initiatives for us to be able to decrease Covid-19 [cases in the PNP]."
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