BY GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Thirteen more police personnel in Western Visayas tested positive for Covid-19, bringing to 169 the number of Philippine National Police workforce infected, as of yesterday, the PNP Health Service said.
Of the 13 police officers, three each are assigned at the Antique Police Provincial Office and the PNP National Support Units, two each at the Capiz PPO and the PRO 6 headquarters, and one each at the Iloilo City Police Office, and Iloilo and Guimaras PPOs.
The PNP Health Service also reported three recoveries, including two assigned at the Aklan PPO and one at the Regional Mobile Force Battalion 6.
The PNP Health Service recorded 1,248 confirmed Covid cases, with 1,079 recoveries and five deaths.
The Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office logged the highest number of police personnel hit by Covid at 208, followed by the Iloilo PPO – 200, Bacolod City Police Office – 163, RHQ – 126, Aklan PPO – 124, Antique PPO – 109, Iloilo City Police Office – 95, Capiz PPO – 78, NSU – 75, RMFB 6 – 44, and the Guimaras PPO – 26.
94.6 PERCENT RECOVERY RATE
Nationwide, the PNP said 56 more police personnel have recovered from the coronavirus disease 2019.
In its latest bulletin, the PNP Health Service said this translates to a 94.6 percent recovery rate from Covid, with 29,699 recoveries out of 31,364 infections since the start of the pandemic last year.
The PNP, however, logged 138 more police personnel who contracted the virus, raising its active case tally to 1,579.
Another police officer succumbed to the disease, pushing the police force’s Covid death toll to 86.
The latest fatality was a 48-year-old police corporal assigned in eastern Metro Manila, who died of severe acute respiratory illness secondary to Covid-19 on August 2.
“According to the report submitted by the Health Service, the patient was admitted at a local hospital after experiencing Covid-19 symptoms on July 23,” PNP chief Gen. Guillermo Eleazar said in a statement.
Eleazar said the police officer immediately underwent a reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction test which yielded a positive result.
On July 30, he was admitted to the intensive care unit due to his unstable and critical condition.
He was intubated and hooked to a mechanical ventilator on Aug. 1 but died due to lung failure secondary to Covid-19 the following day.
“We have already talked to the police chief and instructed him to help the family with any needs. I am also extending my sincere condolences,” Eleazar said.
He said 61,253 or 27.65 percent of PNP personnel are now fully vaccinated against Covid-19 while 56,808 have received the first dose.*with report from PNA
