By Calvin Cordova CEBU CITY—Two policemen assigned at the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) died Sunday, June 14, due to the coronavirus diseases (COVID-19). Police Col. Cydric Earl Tamayo, officer-in-charge of CCPO, said the two policemen died just hours apart in separate hospitals in the city. Tamayo asked reporters to withhold the identities of the two policemen. “It was confirmed that the cause of death was COVID,” said Tamayo. One of the policemen was an operative of the Abellana Police Station detailed at the police crime laboratory. The other one was an operative of the Crisis Response Battalion (CRB) team. The policeman assigned in Abellana had fever, cough, diarrhea and was also experiencing nausea when he was admitted in a private hospital last June 4. He underwent reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test upon admission and was found to be infected with the virus last June 10. The policeman from CRB was admitted in a government-owned hospital last June 7 after figuring in a motorcycle accident. “During the accident, he was not feeling well already,” said Tamayo. The policeman underwent a RT-PCR test last June 8 and based on the result released last June 10, he was positive for the virus. Tamayo said the CCPO was going to help shoulder the hospital bills of the two policemen. “The instruction was to cremate the bodies within 12 hours after the death,” Tamayo said. Tamayo assured the public that police in the city remain in high morale despite the two fatalities. The CCPO personnel are also getting needed support from the Regional Health Service of the Police Regional Office Central Visayas. “We are frontliners. We cannot stop performing our duties just because there is this COVID-19. That’s the risk we have to take,” said Tamayo. As of June 13, Cebu City has recorded 3,434 COVID-19 cases. The virus has infected at least 48 policemen in the city.