Cebu City Police Office (CCPO)
CEBU CITY, Philippines– Two policemen of the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO), who tested positive of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) a few days earlier, have died in separate hospitals in the city this dawn, June 14, 2020.
According to Police Colonel Cydric Earl Tamayo, officer-in-charge of CCPO, the cause of deaths of the two policemen were due to COVID-19 as what was relayed by their family members after the pronouncement of their deaths just a few hours apart.
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The policemen, whose ages are 46 and 29, were assigned in the Abellana Police Station and detailed in the crime laboratory and Crisis Response Battalion (CRB) team respectively.
Tamayo said that the 46-year-old policeman from Abellana Police Station had been experiencing shortness of breath, dizziness, nausea and was having fever and cough when he was admitted in a private hospital last June 4.
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Meanwhile, the 29-year-old policeman from the CRB team was already not feeling well when he was admitted in a public hospital last June 7 after sustaining injuries in a vehicular accident.
Tamayo said that both policemen underwent reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests and were found to be COVID-19 positive on Wednesday, June 10.
Despite the unfortunate incident of having the first policemen deaths of COVID-19 in PRO-7, Tamayo said they would continue to perform their duties and assured that the public was safe.
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“Dili man pwede gud nga naa nay nagkasakit sa amo nga dali malikayan dili na pud mi magtrabaho. Kinsa naman moprotekta sa mga tawo nga kailangan protektahan? Di man pwede nga abi kay COVID-19 di nami magtrabaho,” said Tamayo.
(It is not possible for us, policemen, not to work so that we can avoid those who were infected by the virus. Then who would be the ones to protect those who would need protecting? We have to work even if there is COVID-19.)
As of this time, Tamayo said that they were processing all the necessary documents to give immediate monetary assistance to the family of the policemen including the the hospital bills and cremation of the bodies which was required within 12 hours./dbs