Mandaue City Jail better prepared in fight vs deadly virus – Inopia

Personnel of the Mandaue City Jail are required to wear personal protective equipment (PPEs) before they are allowed to come in close contact with Persons Deprived of Liberty who now occupy the facility in Barangay Looc, Mandaue City. | Norman Mendoza

MANDAUE CITY, Cebu – Social distancing is impossible in detention facilities in Cebu that are now filled way beyond its capacity raising fears of a possible spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

But at the Mandaue City Jail that is located in Barangay Looc, jail officials have long prepared for the worst.

Jail Superintendent Gil Inopia said that they require the 2, 140 Persons Deprived of Liberty (PDL), who now occupy the facility, to always wear washable face masks.  Of the PDLs, a total of 1, 990 stay at their male dormitory while 15o are at the female dormitory.

Inopia said that they also suspended jail visits and the entry of packages coming from the outside since Mandaue City was placed under enhanced community quarantine on March 30, 2020.

PDLs who wanted to speak with their family members are allowed to do so through scheduled “e-calls.”

Jail warden Inopia said that he also assigned four nurses to monitor the PDLs body temperatures on a daily basis while jail personnel are required to undergo temperature checks, proper sanitation, and have their health conditions properly monitored before they are allowed entry into the facility.

Persons Deprived of Liberty (PDLs) are required to wear washable facemasks as a deterrence to the possible spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) inside the Mandaue City Jail. | Norman Mendoza

Inopia said that jail guards who are in close contact with the PDLs are required to wear personal protective equipment (PPEs).

PDLs showing Influenza-like Illness (ILI) are immediately isolated and transferred to the Mandaue City District Hospital for proper medical care.

The Mandaue City Jail warden said that they are doing the best that they could to protect their PDLs from COVID-19 infection.  One infection could put at risk the lives of everyone who are inside the facility, he said.

In Cebu City, more than a hundred COVID-19 cases were already reported at the city jail in Barangay Kalunasan today, April 20, 2020.

“Nagpasalamat mi nga so far wala pa gyud intawn nakasulod diri ang COVID-19, siguro tungod sa mga pag-amping nga among gipatuman,” said Inopia.

(I a very grateful that our jail facility has remained COVID-19 free maybe because of the measures that we have so far implemented.)

In response to the discomfort brought about by the summer heat, Inopia said that he is now in the process of acquiring additional electric fans which he will especially distribute at their male dormitory. / dcb