CEBU CITY, Philippines—The Cebu City Jail does not have enough personal protective equipment (PPE) for the 6,300 persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) or inmates in the facility.
Jail Warden Julius Arro said that the volume of PDLs, both male and female dormitories., do not have enough masks, alcohols, and sanitizers to protect them against the coronavirus disease.
“Meron naman kaming alcohol at sanitizers pero dahil sa rami ng PDLs hindi talaga enough. (We have alcohol and sanitizers but because of the many PDLs, its simply not enough),” said Arro.
With this, Arro said he is hoping to get the city’s help in getting the needed PPEs for inmates.
He said he will be asking Mayor Edgardo Labella’s help on the matter in hopes to procure more alcohol and sanitizers.
Read: Tumulak: More personal protective equipment needed for city’s health workers
For the meantime, the two jail dormitories will be suspending visitation rights starting Saturday, March 14, 2020, to lessen the chances of PDLs getting exposed.
Arro said the suspension is indefinite until the spread is minimized. Since the facilities are enclosed spaces, their priority is to ensure the virus does not enter the jails.
The jail warden said if any of the PDLs show symptoms of the virus, he or she will immediately be quarantined and checked.
“We will follow the necessary protocol,” he said. /bmjo