By Calvin Cordova
CEBU CITY — Eighteen inmates at the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC) tested positive for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
Cebu Governor Gwen Garcia said an “aggressive contact tracing” was immediately conducted at the CPDRC.
The 18 inmates, 15 males and three females, have already been transferred to separate isolation rooms.
Garcia said an investigation is underway to find out how the inmates got infected with the virus despite the preemptive measures that the CPDRC has taken.
Garcia said it was likely that the virus spread in the facility after a jail officer tested positive for the disease.
The governor had ordered that all jail personnel must be housed in the facility and must refrain from going home while the COVID-19 is yet to be contained.
Despite the governor’s order, the jail officer reportedly still opted to go home in Barangay Sambag 2, Cebu City where four confirmed COVID-19 cases have been recorded.
“Apparently that (order) was not strictly followed. That's the weak point because the order was not followed,” said Garcia.
The governor ordered a lockdown on the facility after more than 100 inmates at the adjacent Cebu City Jail tested positive for the virus.
The two jail facilities are just meters apart in Barangay Kalunasan.
As of April 29, the province has 25 confirmed COVID-19 cases.
Garcia said the province has 5,163 Persons Under Monitoring (PUM) while 69, 057 persons have already completed their 14-day quarantine.