20 COVID-recovered policemen prepare to go back to work

Policemen of PRO-7 provide primary care kits to the policemen, who have been cleared of COVID-19 | Photo courtesy of PRO-7

CEBU CITY, Philippines — At least 20 police officers in Cebu are preparing to report back to work after having recovered from the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

The Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO -7) announced that 20 of the 40 policemen, who recovered from the infection, were cleared to leave their designated quarantine center at Barangay Taptap, Cebu City on Thursday, June 18.

“Out of the 81 police officers that were confirmed to have COVID-19, 40 have already recovered, and some of them may be able to go back to their work,” said PRO-7 director Police Brigadier General Albert Ignatius Ferro in a teleconference.

In a follow-up statement, the PRO-7 stated that shortly after their departure from the quarantine center, the 20 recovered policemen underwent an integration program to ensure they were physically and mentally fit to return to work.

Ferro also said the 20 policemen would be set to resume their work at their respective posts by next week while the other 20 were still staying in for further observation.

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“The 20 personnel set to be released (this Friday) morning have already received psychological and medical clearances. They will be staying with their families after, and maybe next week they are fit to return to work,” he said.

Ferro, on the other hand, assured the public that the morale of Cebu’s police had remained high despite news that some of their colleagues got the virus during their line of work.

“In fact, the news on those who already recovered had a great impact on our policemen. And we’re hoping and doing our best the rest can have a full recovery as well,” he added. /dbs