Policemen who would make close contact with those who would test positive for coronavirus in the Philippine National Police (PNP) will be subjected to mandatory quarantine if the contact happened while they were not wearing a face mask or a face shield.

Lt. Gen. Guillermo Lorenzo Eleazar, deputy chief for Administration and concurrent commander of the Administrative Support for COVID-19 Task Force (ASCOTF), said the move is aimed at compelling all PNP personnel to wear their face mask and face shields even inside police stations or offices amid the continuous rise of coronavirus infection cases in the police organization.
 
“Even if they are not yet subjected to RT-PCR (Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction), they will be immediately brought to our quarantine facilities as part of the preventive measures. The reason here is that the possibility of coronavirus infection is high if they made close contact with a COVID-positive patient if they are not wearing a face mask and face shield,” said Eleazar.
 
“Let this serve as a warning to all our personnel to wear both a face mask and a face shield at all times and treat  everybody in the police stations, camps or PNP offices as potential carriers of the coronavirus,” he added.
 
Based on the latest PNP data, a total of 9,241 PNP personnel have been infected by the coronavirus since March last year, 28 of them died. The recovery rate, however, is high as 8,897 of those infected were able to fully recover. Currently, there are 316 active cases in the PNP.
 
In an effort to contain the spread of the disease, the PNP has intensified its contact-tracing efforts by requiring all PNP personnel to have a Close Contact Diary using notebook or their smartphones.
 
The Close Contact Diary contains the names of the people that PNP personnel would make close contact, as well as the time, date and place of the contact.
 
 Eleazar emphasized the need for all PNP personnel to strictly observe the minimum health safety standard protocol that includes wearing of face mask and face shield, maintaining at least one meter physical distance and avoiding mass gatherings.
 
Health experts said the chance of being infected by the coronavirus is slim if those who made close contact with COVID-positive person are wearing both the face mask and face shield.
 
“While all those who made close contact with COVID-19 positive personnel would be required to report to their respective Health Service units for medical assessment, our rule now is that those who would be found not wearing face mask and face shield at the time of the close contact will immediately be taken to quarantine facilities,” said Eleazar.
 
Once any personnel is taken to a PNP quarantine facility, they will be subjected to the quarantine guidelines which include compliance to health requirements for their release.
 
Eleazar then reminded all police commanders and unit heads to ensure that the minimum health safety standard protocols are always observed in their respective stations and offices.