Cop assigned in Pilgrim Center tests positive for COVID-19
The pilgrim’s center of the Basilica Minore del Santo Niño is being readied for the Misa de Gallo and Simbang Gabi Masses. | Morexette Marie B. Erram
CEBU CITY, Philippines – A police officer briefly assigned at the open Pilgrim Center of the Basilica Minore Del Sto. Niño de Cebu tested positive for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) confirmed.
CCPO director Police Colonel Josefino Ligan told reporters in a press conference on Thursday, January 21, 2021, that the officer was among the more than 200 police assigned at the Basilica’s premises for the Fiesta Señor celebration.
Ligan, however, clarified that the cop was only deployed at the church at the time when all face-to-face Novena Masses have been cancelled.
“She was assigned and deployed in the Pilgrim Center. But there were no longer physical Masses held there,” said Ligan in a mix of Cebuano and English.
The police officer underwent swab tests last Monday, January 18 after showing signs of the infection, he said.
Results were released on the following day, Tuesday, showing that she tested positive, prompting health authorities to transfer her to a quarantine facility immediately.
In the meantime, Ligan said contact tracing has been conducted and members of the household where the officer belonged will undergo swab tests anytime today, Thursday.
“Contract tracing has been initiated. These included not only her family members but also with other police who may have come in close contact with her,” he explained.
Fiesta Señor this 2021 began last January 8 with the local government and anti-coronavirus task force greenlighting the conduct of face-to-face Novena Masses. But Augustinian friars at the Basilica decided to cancel the remaining Masses last January 12 due to health concerns brought about by the increasing influx of churchgoers
Since January 1, 2021, Cebu City has experienced a surge in new COVID-19 cases, resulting in the number of active cases jumping back to 680 as of January 20.
Health experts from the Department of Health in Central Visayas (DOH-7) and the city’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC) said unregulated parties and other social gatherings held last December 2020 contributed to the increase of infections.
The city is under modified general community quarantine (MGCQ) and is expected to last until January 31, 2021.
/bmjo
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