COVID positive - 2 inmates, 1 jail officer: Cebu City Jail yields 3 cases

CEBU, Philippines —  Three of the COVID-19 positive cases in Cebu City as of yesterday are from the Cebu City Jail in Barangay Kalunasan, a facility with a population of 6,582.

Of the three, two are inmates as confirmed by Mayor Edgardo Labella while the other is a jail guard as confirmed by Jail Senior Inspector Jay Ylanan.

Only the inmate announced positive yesterday is classified as a new case.

Labella said yesterday the first case is actually the sixth patient in the city who died from the disease.

That inmate, 41 years old, was brought to the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC) last Saturday due to difficulty in breathing but he died the following day even before the result of his test came out.

After he was found positive for COVID-19, Labella ordered contact tracing and mass swab testing at the jail, which led to the discovery of the second case, another inmate at the facility.

The City Health Department tested 199 swab samples.

Labella said the other inmate is now being isolated at a new building near the city jail, which has been designated as isolation facility for inmates. It can accommodate at least 500 asymptomatic patients.

The second inmate is the patient from Cebu City included in yesterday’s data of COVID-19 positive patients.

Ylanan, for his part, said the inmate who died was committed to the city jail on February 28 this year and it is possible he may have brought the virus into the facility but was not detected because he was asymptomatic.

He said no inmate has manifested symptoms, so far, but the six companions of the first patient are now on isolation and are being monitored.

He said the jail has disinfected its surroundings and adopted isolation protocols before anyone even tested positive.

Jail Officer

Ylanan confirmed that a jail officer has tested positive for COVID-19 but clarified that the guard has not had any contact with anyone inside the jail. Because of this, that jail officer could not have been the one who infected the inmates, he said.

"Dili. Kining jail nato divided na to male and female, since before nag start ta last month, nag-lockdown na mi sa jail, meaning, among mga personnel divided na – nay taga sulod, naa pu'y taga gawas," Ilanan said.

(No. The jail is divided into male and female. Since last month, we have locked the jail down, meaning, we have divided our personnel – there are those assigned outside and there are those assigned inside)

"Katong naa sa sulod (personnel), dili na to sila kagawas gyud; one month na to silang naa sa sulod, then katong naa sa gawas, one month na pud silang naa sa gawas," he added.

(The personnel assigned inside cannot go out. They have been inside for a month. The same with those assigned outside)

The BJMP officer who tested positive for COVID-19 was reportedly assigned outside the cell, thus, did not have any physical interaction with anyone inside, including the inmates.

Ylanan said the jail officer is now in isolation but refused to give additional details. He said information should come from the Department of Health (DOH).

It was on March 18 when Labella suspended visitation privileges at the city jail and Operation Second Chance, the city’s facility for minor offenders.

Bayanihan

Meanwhile, Labella said the Bayanihan Cebu Field Center (BCFC) at the old campus of Sacred Heart School will start to accept referrals today.

The facility, where COVID-19 patients with mild symptoms will be isolated, has at least 50 beds and negative pressure isolation areas.

The mayor said that city's quarantine facility at Block 27 in North Reclamation Area is 100 percent complete and will open any time this week. It can accommodate at least 200 patients.

In Sitio Zapatera, Barangay Luz, Labella said there are some asymptomatic patients who live in big houses who requested to follow the DOH protocol to undergo home quarantine. He said these residents are monitored constantly.

Labella said that due to the ongoing massive testing, the city's barangays organized barangay isolation centers.

"Kung naay makit-an nga mga positibo, duna na tay mga eskwelahan designated as barangay isolation centers," Labella said.

(If there are those who test positive, we have schools designated as barangay isolation centers)

Province

At the Capitol, Governor Gwendolyn Garcia said yesterday that the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC) will be included in the rapid targeted mass testing the province will undertake as it prepares for a modified enhanced community quarantine.

She also said Capitol is considering of putting up a Sunnytation tent or a personal disinfection tent at the prison.

Meanwhile, the DOH tested 128 swab samples from Cebu and 127 tested negative. The positive patient is the inmate from the Cebu City jail.  JMO (FREEMAN)