The Philippine National Police (PNP) has recorded only one case of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) infection on Monday, Nov. 29, a proof that the pandemic situation in the country is improving according to police medical experts.
But PNP spokesperson Col. Rhoderick Alba attributed it to the high vaccination rate in the police organization which has already reached 93.46 percent, or 211,045 PNP personnel fully-vaccinated and 5.69 percent, or 12,839 who got their first dose and are now waiting for their second dose.
So far, more than 99 percent which translates to almost 224,000 PNP personnel are either fully-vaccinated or got their first dose while only 1,919 PNP personnel continue to refuse to be vaccinated for various reasons.
“Aside from high vaccination rate, medical intervention and care that we have been implementing on our personnel are also instrumental in the continuous decline of COVID cases in our ranks,” said Alba.
These include immediate quarantine on those who tested positive, quick contact-tracing on those who exposed to infected people and full medical attention to those who were infected.
Based on the PNP data, there are only 54 active cases in the PNP, the latest were the nine PNP personnel who fully recovered from the virus infection.
Since last year, the PNP recorded a total of 42,198 COVID cases with 125 recorded deaths.
Uphill battle
The PNP was among the hardest hit of COVID cases since last year being in the frontline of the implementation of quarantine measures.
Among the casualties were at least three pregnant police officers, two of them died with their babies.
In March this year, the PNP encountered shortage of isolation and treatment facilities when scores of police personnel trooped to Camp Crame to seek medical attention due to infection.
Success
The PNP leadership since the time of retired General Archie Gamboa immediately mapped out measures to combat COVID infection in the PNP.
Gamboa pushed for the setting up of own free swab tests facilities for PNP personnel and their dependents last year and identified various areas in police camps to serve as quarantine facilities.
Retired PNP chief Debold Sinas, on the other hand, pushed for more treatment and isolation facilities and ensured that the PNP has enough medical supplies for infected personnel.
For his part, retired PNP chief Gen. Guillermo Lorenzo Eleazar, who was then the head of the PNP Administrative Support on COVID-19 Task Force, initiated the survey of PNP personnel on who among them wanted to be inoculated. Based on the survey in February this year, only 51 percent of PNP personnel wanted to be vaccinated amid fear on effects of vaccine and low trust on a certain brand of vaccine which was the only available that time.
Eleazar then coordinated with the Department of Health for maximum information drive which resulted in the steep upsurge of those who wanted to be vaccinated.
At the height of the Delta variant infection, Eleazar ensured enough medical supplies and facilities to treat infected PNP personnel.