No more COVID-19 cases among PDLs in Cebu City

This file photo courtesy of the Cebu City PIO shows a portion of the Cebu City Jail.

CEBU CITY, Philippines — There are no more Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases inside jails and police detention cells in Cebu City.

This was revealed by the Cebu City Emergency Operation Center (EOC) in their recent presentation of COVID-19 data to the media on June 4, 2021.

According to Councilor Joel Garganera, the deputy chief implementor of the EOC, there has been no COVID-19 case recorded among the jails and detention centers in the city even if there were more persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) swabbed on the same time period.

For May 2021, at least 274 PDL’s were swabbed and none of them tested positive for COVID-19.

Garganera notes that the month with the highest number of positive cases of PDLs relative to the total number of swabbed individuals was February 2021, with 13 out of 137 found COVID positive, and a Positivity rate of 9.49 percent, which was reflective of the second surge of COVID-19 in the city.

“Since then, the cases reported among the PDLs were gradually decreasing. Ultimately on May 2021, there were no COVID positive cases found, even if there were more PDLs swabbed in the same month,” said Garganera.

Overall, the total number of COVID-19 positive PDLS from September 1, 2020, to May 30, 2021, is 44 out of 1,358 swabbed, with a positivity rate of 3.24 percent — a rate the EOC considers low.

For the EOC, the policy of testing PDLs before detention has decreased the risk of spreading the virus inside the facilities and help in the stopping of the transmission.

“Testing violators prior to their integration in the City’s detainment facilities is found to be an effective way in the prevention of a COVID-19 outbreak in these facilities,” said Garganera.

The EOC hopes that no more surge in COVID-19 cases will be experienced in the detention facilities in the city.   /rcg