166 more cops catch COVID-19

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine National Police reported that 166 more of its personnel contracted COVID-19, bringing the number of active cases in the PNP to 2,524 yesterday.

PNP deputy chief for administration Lt. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar said 74 of the new cases are from Metro Manila. Seven are from Camp Crame while 67 are assigned to units and offices under the National Capital Region Police Office.

Forty-three are from various administrative and operational support units of the PNP while 49 are from different police regional offices nationwide.

Eleazar said 782 or 30.98 percent of the active cases are from Metro Manila, which is experiencing a surge in COVID-19 infections.

At least 16,770 PNP personnel have been infected with the virus since the COVID-19 pandemic started last year. The death toll remains at 40 while 14,206 or 84.71 percent of the patients have recovered.

PNP chief Gen. Debold Sinas, who recently recovered from COVID-19, has imposed more measures to curb the spread of the virus.

Among these is the suspension of face-to-face media interviews and press conferences to protect police officers and journalists.

He also temporarily stopped all command activities such as the four-minute workout for their personnel.

Eleazar said 4,546 PNP members have been vaccinated against COVID-19. Of the number, 2,917 took the jabs from Sinovac Biotech Ltd. of China while 1,629 were inoculated with vaccines from British-Swedish pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca.