The number of COVID-19 cases in the Philippine National Police (PNP) is nearing the 1,000 mark as more police frontliners continue to be infected.
Based on the data of the PNP Health Service, the number of COVID-19 cases rose to 981 as of Wednesday night as the results of the confirmatory tests disclosed that 39 more policemen were infected — four of them are officers, one is a civilian employee, while the rest are non-commissioned officers or those from the rank of Police Patrolman to Police Executive Master Sergeant.
A total of 35 of the latest infections are from Metro Manila, two from the Region 4-A (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon area), one from Central Visayas, and another one from the Cordilleras.
PNP chief Police Gen. Archie Gamboa said that of the 981 figure, 429 of them were able to recover while nine of them died, mostly from Metro Manila and Central Visayas.
“Among these number of cases, 476 patients are in quarantine facilities, 23 are admitted in hospitals, and 44 are undergoing home quarantine,” said Gamboa.
The PNP data also showed that 659 police personnel listed as Probable Persons Under Investigation (Probable PUIs) and 1,258 police personnel considered as Suspected Persons Under Investigation (Suspected PUIs).
The PNP has been tasked to help contain the spread of the virus through enforcement of the quarantine rules, making them prone to infection as they are the ones making contact with most of the people on the road.
The PNP leadership has issued Personal Protective Equipment and set up testing centers to ensure the safety of its personnel.