The Philippine National Police (PNP) recorded on Friday, March 18, a total of 17 new Covid-19 cases among its personnel, the highest since about three weeks ago.
A situation report released by the PNP information office showed that the total number of active cases in the organization increased to 20 because of the new infections.
On Thursday, the PNP only had five active cases, two of which have already recovered from the disease.
“I have observed that from five active cases on Thursday, the number jumped to 20 cases today for the PNP. This was already discussed to the JTF COVID Shield and ASCOTF meetings,” said Police Brig. Gen. Roderick Augustus Alba, head of PNP public information office.
The 17 newly recorded cases in the PNP was the highest since it logged 23 cases on February 22 amid the decrease of infections due to the improving Covid-19 situation in the country.
The uptick in the PNP’s cases happened just as the World Health Organization (WHO) observed another spike in the global Covid-19 cases despite the reduced testing.
According to WHO, over 11 million cases have been reported globally last week which was an eight percent increase from the preceding week.
The WHO said that the rise in infections was particularly observed in Asia as it called to ramp up vaccination efforts to protect the people.
The WHO attributed the spike to the resurgence of the Omicron variant and the lifting of safety protocols such as use of face mask, practice of physical distancing, and eased travel restrictions.
Overall, the PNP said that it has recorded 48,853 cases since the beginning of the pandemic in the country in 2020. Out of this, a total of 48,705 have recovered and 128 have died.
The PNP also fully vaccinated 221,923 out of the total 224,695 personnel which translates to a vaccination rate of 98.77 percent. There remains 608 personnel (0.27 percent) who remain unvaccinated and 2,164 (0.96 percent) who are partially vaccinated.
From the fully jabbed personnel, a total of 145,028 (65.35 percent) have received their booster shots.