LIEUTENANT General Guillermo Lorenzo T. Eleazar, commander of the Administrative Support for Joint COVID Task Force, on Monday said they are currently monitoring 344 “active cases” on the force which has lost 28 members while 8,738 out of the total 9,111 policemen who contracted the disease since March last year have already fully recovered and are now back on full duty.
In a report to PNP chief, General Debold M. Sinas, the Eleazar said they also have 56 police personnel who are considered Persons Under Monitoring/Close Contact; 188 Suspected cases and 158 Probable cases to date.
Eleazar said that the 8,738 police officers and men who fully recovered from their bout with COVID-19 comprise 95.94 percent of the total 9,111 confirmed cases in the force from March 16 last year up to last Monday.
On Monday night, the PNP recorded its 28th COVID-19 fatality: a 41-year old Police Non-Commissioned Officer from the Cauayan City Police Station in Isabela who passed away early in the morning.
However, he said they expect the number to rise amid an all-out effort of the PNP leadership to ensure the testing of all its personnel nationwide.
Lt. Gen. Eleazar said that as of last Sunday, the following number of police personnel have tested positive for COVID-19: 337 assigned at the PNP National Headquarters in Camp Crame; 2,620 from the different National Operational Support Units; and 6,134 from the 17 Police Regional Offices.
Of the active cases; 27 are assigned at the NHQ; 171 from the NSUs; and 143 from the PROs.
Of the 8,722 who recovered, 309 are from the NHQ; 2,436 from the NOSUs; and 5,977 from the PROs.
Of the 27 deaths; one of the fatalities is assigned at the NHQ; 12 from the NSUs; and 14 from the PROs.
Lt. Gen. Eleazar said that as of last Sunday, 13 police personnel remained in hospital while 328 are in PNP-run quarantine facilities.
Shortly after last Christmas, Gen. Sinas opened the PNP COVID-19 Emergency Treatment Facility in Camp Crame established to cater to police personnel who have tested positive for the virus while waiting to be accommodated in other hospitals if needed.
As of last Sunday, a total of 78,793 policemen have been subjected to an RT-PCR test; 2,285 of them from the NHQ; 25,577 from the NOSUs; and 50,931 from the PROs, more than 17,000 of them from the National Capital Region Police Office.
Eleazar said they are progressing in their move to test their men for the virus specifically those assigned in Metro Manila.
“But because of this aggressive testing, maraming nagpa-positive kaya nga ang focus namin is to have a more effective contact tracing dito sa NHQ and with the help of the different Station Health Units of the PNP as ordered by Gen. Sinas,” the PNP’s no. 2 man said.
