ILOILO City – Fourteen policemen in Iloilo province got infected with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in January, data from the Iloilo Police Provincial Office (IPPO) showed.
Of the 14, five were assigned at the municipal police station of San Joaquin, Iloilo.
The nine others were from in Lemery, Iloilo.
Lieutenant Dionisio Estacio, San Joaquin police chief, said four of his personnel tested positive for COVID-19 on Jan. 22.
On Jan. 29, a police master sergeant also tested positive for the virus.
The five police officers – all asymptomatic – were immediately brought to the town’s isolation facility, said Estacio.
Thorough disinfection had since been conducted at their station.
Meanwhile, the Lemery police office logged nine infected officers, including a non-uniformed personnel and its police chief, Police Captain Edwin Belarmino.
Belarmino tested positive for coronavirus on Jan. 24 when he went home to Negros Occidental. He was being isolated there.
Following his result, 32 personnel underwent s swabbing. On Jan. 29, eight personnel were confirmed having the disease.
According to acting chief Police Lieutenant Francis Batallanes, the infected personnel were isolated at the town’s facility while the others were quarantined in the police station.
“With this recent result we could not yet cater to those who have concerns in our station. We are only doing administrative work, but there are personnel from the IPPO who are on standby,” Batallanes said./PN
