CEBU CITY – At least 101 personnel of the Police Regional Office Central Visayas (PRO 7) are back in harness after recovering from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
The 101 policemen participated in Wednesday’s reintegration program at the Cebu City Resource Management and Development Center (Cremdec) in Barangay Taptap here.
Police Brig. Gen. Albert Ignatius Ferro, chief of PRO 7, said the 101 policemen were ready and fit to go back to work.
“They were tested negative in their second or third reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test,” said Ferro.
Ferro said the infected personnel were isolated for 14 days at Cremdec where they underwent spiritual and neuro-psychological counseling.
“They went through physical and mental challenges so we need to prepare them to be back stronger,” said Ferro.
One of those who attended the ceremony was city councilor Joel Garganera, who was also a COVID-19 survivor.
“I don’t want people out there to experience what we’ve been through. Me and my wife got COVID-19 and she was hospitalized for 10 days. Four of my staff got COVID and the father of one of my staff died due to COVID. My seatmate in the city council succumbed to COVID. To me COVID has a face and it’s a face of death. As you go back to the frontlines, be safe and more determined to beat COVID together again,” said Garganera, the deputy chief implementor of the Emergency Operation Center (EOC) of the city’s Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF).
As part of the Makatao Malasakit Plasma Donor Program, the policemen who recovered from the disease will be donating blood for COVID-19 patients.
“Our recoveries will also form part of our contact tracing personnel,” Ferro said.
Ferro said a total of 511 PRO 7 personnel were infected with COVID-19 and 322 of them have already recovered.
Among the infected policemen were 139 new graduates of the Regional Training School in Consolacion town, northern Cebu.
“They may have gotten the virus from their cook or laundrywoman,” said Ferro.
Operations at the training school remained normal as virtual learning sessions are being done, Ferro said.