‘Patunol’ continues in infected jail: Cebu City cases soar to 328

CEBU, Philippines — Eighteen more cases of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) were recorded in Cebu City yesterday, bringing the total count to 328 since March.

Of the 18 cases, 15 are from Barangay Labangon, one from Barangay Mambaling, and two from Cebu City Jail.

As of yesterday, there are already 328 recorded positive cases in the city with Barangay Luz having the most number at 139, followed by the city jail at 129.

Councilor David Tumulak said city jail inmates staged a “noise barrage” yesterday at the sight of arriving police personnel yesterday.

“Ang tuyo unta niadto mao lang ang pagpakighinabi sa mga BJMP (Bureau of Jail Management and Penology) personnel aron sa paghimo og mga lakang, plano unsaon nga maproteksyonan ang jail facility ug sa samang higayon ang ato sang mga piniriso,” said Tumulak.

“Silbing abag lang to sa atong mga kapolisan apan gibugal-bugalan sa uban nga mga jail inmates kay wa man gud sila kahibawo og unsa gyu'y tinud-anay nga katuyoan niini,” he added.

‘Patunol’ source of virus?

After testing positive, the 127 inmates are now being isolated in another building to prevent the virus from spreading further.

The Cebu City Jail has 129 personnel, 13 of whom also tested positive for the virus.

Jail Senior Inspector Jay Ylanan said that since the jail has been on lockdown since over a month ago, they are suspecting the virus might have reached the facility through supplies given by the family of the inmates in a practice known as “patunol.”

Tumulak said rumors pointing to a stop to this practice also led the inmates to stage the noise barrage.

But he stressed that Mayor Edgardo Labella and BJMP have agreed to continue with the "patunol." Families are allowed to bring in supplies for the inmates such as face masks, face shields, alcohol, sanitizers, Vitamin C, and medicines but food supplies and other items are prohibited.

Patunol is scheduled every Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday.

Tumulak also said the inmates’ families need not worry: “Atong nahibaw-an gikan mismo sa mga mayores didto sa sud sa Cebu City Jail nga nakig-alayon sila sa BJMP labi na sa paglimpyo sa ilahang tagsa-tagsa ka mga selda ug ila nasad na gidid-an nga maglakaw-lakaw ang uban nga mga piniriso nga mosud sa lain na mga selda.”

The councilor explained that if an inmate is already designated his own cell, he will not be allowed to get out. He said inmates are under self-quarantine.

The city government yesterday sent 1,500 face masks and 200 face shields to the CCJ male and female dormitories.

"Sa mosunod na mga adlaw mopada nasad tag laing hinabang para usab sa paghatag og proteksyon sa mga nahabilin nga piniriso ug ingon man mga sakop sa BJMP," said Tumulak.

Meanwhile, Ylanan also said before the test results came out, they had already isolated inmates found to have possible contact with those who tested positive, as well as those with symptoms.

The 13 jail personnel who tested positive were among those assigned to man the jail during their implementation of lockdown.

Ylanan assured that jail personnel have been provided with protective gear and masks as preventive measures. However, due to the shortage of supply, Ylanan called on the public for generous donations.

Clarification

In a related development, the City Health Department yesterday clarified that the newborn boy who earlier tested positive for the virus turned out to be a “false positive” case.

The baby had been retested and yielded negative result.

City Health also said that a positive case tagged under the City Health Office turned out to be another patient from the City Jail.

Labella, for his part, disclosed that the quarantine facility located at Block 27 in North Reclamation Area will open Saturday.

Once operational, the facility is said to be “one of the biggest and most sophisticated quarantine facilities” built and owned by a local government in the country to date. It has 200 beds.

Labella stressed that the contractor of the quarantine facility was required to strictly follow protocols and standards set by the DOH for its establishment.

Other cases

Governor Gwendolyn Garcia announced yesterday two new positive cases in Lapu-Lapu City. A retest of an earlier positive case in the same city also yielded still positive result.

Lapu-Lapu City disaster office chief Nagiel Bañacia reported that two new positive cases are from Sitio Agus-Gamay in Barangay Agus. They are siblings, male and female, 20 and 22 years old, whose father tested positive last week.

Cebu province and Mandaue City saw no new cases.

To date, Cebu City has 328 cases; Cebu province, 3; Mandaue City, 9; and Lapu-Lapu City, 20.

Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes said that of the remaining three positive cases in Sitio Sili in Barangay Cambaro, two were already admitted while the other one is still in strict home quarantine.

These three confirmed positive cases are all related to the first patient recorded in the barangay, a 70-year-old male who was the first mortality in the city.

The patient expired due to severe acute respiratory disease due to COVID-19 pneumonia. He also had existing medical conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease.

Under the instructions of Cortes, the city will soon start using swabbing booths to safely take swab samples from suspected individuals.

The use of the swabbing booths to take swab samples is seen to lessen the exposure of healthcare workers to droplets from people infected with the virus.

It also seeks to reduce the need for personal protective equipment, which is on limited stock.  JMD (FREEMAN)