Some of the cops from PRO-7 who recovered from the coronavirus disease are released from the CREMDEC in Barangay Taptap, Cebu City in this July 13, 2020 file photo.
CEBU CITY, Philippines – The number of police officers in Central Visayas who have fully recovered from the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) surpassed those pertaining to active cases.
Police Brigadier General Albert Ignatius Ferro, director of the Police Regional Office here (PRO – 7), announced this in a press briefing with reporters on Wednesday, August 5, 2020.
Ferro said they have recorded a total of 356 recoveries from their ranks as of August 4. PRO-7 documented a total of 524 personnel who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.
This meant that they are now monitoring 168 cops who are still infected with the virus.
“We now have a recovery rate of around 64 percent. We have about 168 policemen who are still (classified as) active cases. But I believe they were all asymptomatic,” said Ferro in a mix of Cebuano and English.
“Maybe by next week, most of them will recover. So, hopefully, the number of PNP personnel infected with the virus will be lesser in the coming days,” he added.
Police in Central Visayas, particularly those assigned in Cebu island, have been deployed in the past few months to man checkpoints and reinforce quarantine protocols.
Cebu City, the province’s capital, has been tagged as the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak in the region.
As of August 5, the Department of Health in Central Visayas (DOH-7) over 9,000 confirmed cases. But more than half of this number have already recovered. /bmjo
READ MORE: Central Visayas total recoveries at 10,451, active cases drop to 5,507