By Jonathan Hicap
The Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) has reported that 92 prisoners under its care have recovered from coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
NBP prisoners who have been declared COVID-19 free. (Photo by BuCor)
On June 10, the bureau said 32 more prisoners who were taken to Site Harry, its isolation area for COVID-19 positive inmates located in the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) medium security compound, are now free of the virus after they tested negative twice using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test, bringing the total of inmates who have recovered to 92.
The COVID-19 free prisoners will be returned to their respective prison camps. The BuCor announced on June 9 that 13 prisoners at Site Harry have recovered from COVID-19. BuCor said last week that there were 270 prisoners and employees who were afflicted with COVID-19. Of the total, 222 were prisoners and 48 were employees.
NBP had the highest number of COVID-19 cases with 140 prisoners and 30 employees while the Correctional Institute for Women (CIW) in Mandaluyong had 82 COVID-19 positive inmates and seven BuCor employees. Eleven personnel at the BuCor national headquarters in Muntinlupa also tested positive for COVID-19.
The BuCor supervises 49,584 prisoners including 29,173, or 59 percent, at the NBP and 3,422 inmates at CIW, based on the February 2020 tally. It explained that COVID-19 patients at Site Harry are being provided with round-the-clock care by BuCor medical staff. It is also conducting continuous swab testing among prisoners to curb the spread of the virus and facilitate contact tracing.