By Jonathan Hicap
The Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) has announced that there are now 54 confirmed cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) including three deaths in the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa and Correctional Institution for Women (CIW) in Mandaluyong.
The New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa. (Jonathan Hicap/ MANILA BULLETIN)
NBP and CIW are under the supervision of BuCor along with five prison and penal farms in the provinces.
Data released by BuCor showed that as of May 4, the NBP has two confirmed COVID-19: one inmate and one employee. The 56-year-old NBP medium security camp inmate was admitted at the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) on April 17 and died on April 23.
There are also 82 suspect and 10 probable cases among NBP inmates while there are 12 probable cases among employees in the NBP and BuCor headquarters.
At the CIW, there are 49 inmates and three employees who are COVID-19 positive. Of the 49 inmates, 47 are at the NBP medium security camp quarantine area known as “Site Harry.” The other two CIW prisoners, including a 72-year-old, died of the disease on April 21 and 27 in different hospitals.
There are also 11 CIW inmates and two CIW employees who are suspect cases while there are 59 inmates and one employee who are probable cases.
The five BuCor prison and penal farms in the provinces have no suspect, probable, or positive COVID-19 cases to date.
As of February, 2020, there are 29,173 inmates and 646 corrections officers at NBP, while there are 3,422 inmates and 124 corrections officers at CIW. There are a total of 49,584 prisoners and 2,467 corrections officers under BuCor.