A police captain stationed in Bulacan has become the 52nd death among Philippine National Police (PNP) members as far as the dreaded coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is concerned.
Police Gen. Debold Sinas, PNP chief, said the latest fatality among their ranks was a 50-year-old male officer assigned at the Marilao Municipal Police Station, Bulacan Police Provincial Office (PPO).
"On behalf of the PNP, I would like to express my deepest condolences to the bereaved family at this sad time. Rest assured that you shall receive the benefits due from his years of service," Sinas said, without naming the individual.
The police captain was reportedly brought to a hospital last Tuesday, April 20, after he experienced difficulty in breathing, said Police Col. Janet Homo, of Central Luzon Regional Medical and Dental Unit.
However, the patient was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital around 8:05 p.m.
According to Homo, the medical diagnosis of the police officer revealed he died due to acute respiratory distress syndrome secondary to severe pneumonia.
The attending doctor then ordered the conduct of a real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test on the police commissioned officer. The result that came in Thursday, April 22, showed he was positive for COVID-19.
On Thursday, the PNP Health Service recorded 201 new COVID-19 infections, which brought the accumulated number of cases within the police organization to 19,318. A total of 2,133 are active cases, or those who have yet to recover.
The vast majority of them--2,042 personnel--are isolated at PNP facilities while the remaining 91 personnel are confined at different hospitals. The PNP has recorded 17,133 recoveries from the disease.
The PNP has started its own inoculation program where 9,917 cops have already been given anti-COVID shots, according to the Health Service.