ILOILO – Four persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) from the Barotac Nuevo police station tested positive for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), prompting the station’s temporary lockdown on Tuesday.
Police Major Rowena Hubero, chief of the Barotac Nuevo municipal police station, said the inmates were among the five PDLs remitted to the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) in Dumangas town on April 14. These included three brothers facing murder, frustrated murder and illegal drugs charges.
Around 20 police personnel, three non-uniform personnel, five inmates, five augmentation police patrolmen and a civilian underwent reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests. All yielded negative results.
Disinfection was also conducted.
“We stopped catering to the people for only a day because we were waiting for the test results. We’re thankful that we tested negative for COVID-19,” Hubero said.
The Iloilo Police Provincial Office also sent augmentation personnel on Tuesday. They were pulled out yesterday afternoon.
“We are back to our normal duty. Our station is COVID-19 free. We can now accommodate the public,” Hubero added./PN
