By Calvin Cordova
CEBU CITY – A policeman, who was deployed in a barangay that had been locked down due to more than 100 cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), has tested positive for the virus.
The patrolman, an operative of the Regional Mobile Force Battalion (RMFB), was the first policeman in Central Visayas to be infected with the virus, said Police Brig. Gen. Albert Ferro Ignatius, chief of the Police Regional Office-Central Visayas (PRO 7).
Ferro said the policeman was asymptomatic, and may have acquired the virus from a jail officer, who was earlier tested positive for COVID-19.
The patrolman was among the RMFB personnel who were deployed in Barangay Luz. He was also among 40 policemen who underwent swab testing.
Because of this development, at least 50 policemen who had close contact with the patrolman will be isolated for 14 days.
“It (isolation) will really weaken our force but we have our contingency. We are using our reserved force in the region and we will ask the Armed Forces to augment and reinforcement our quarantine control points or checkpoints,” said Ferro.
A police station in Barangay Sawang Calero, Cebu City was placed under isolation after two inmates in its detention cell tested positive for the virus.
“The police personnel of Station 6 will have to stay in the station for 14 days. They will not be allowed to go out or go home to protect their families,” said Ferro.
All the personnel in the station will be tested, while the two inmates have already been transferred to an isolation facility of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP).