Maj. Gen. Debold Sinas, chief of the NCRPO. (File photo by NOY MORCOSO / INQUIRER.net)
MANILA, Philippines – Metro Manila’s top cop has been doing self-quarantine — staying in his office quarters and not going home — as a precautionary measure against the new coronavirus disease, or COVID-19.
Maj. Gen. Debold Sinas, chief of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO), said on Tuesday that he and other officials who responded to a hostage-taking in Greehills, San Juan City last March 2 ahd been monitoring themselves and counting days for a possible incubation period.
Sinas also confirmed that country’s fifth COVID-19 case — the 62-year-old man who frequented a Muslim prayer room in Greenhills, whose ailment was confirmed only on March 5 — was present in the area before the hostage crisis unfolded.
“I have my own [quarters]. Yes, we, including me, are counting [the incubation period]. So March 2, plus 14 [days], so [March] 16,” Sinas, speaking partly in Filipino, said in a press briefing at the Quezon City Police District Station 10 in Kamuning.
“Actually, all of us involved in the hostage-taking [operation] were already advised to observe themselves. The hostage-taking was on March 2. He [the 62-year-old man] was first detected [as possibly having COVID-19 ] on Feb. 5. He was confirmed [as having it] on March 5. So in between, what happened?” he added.
Sinas added that all of the people visiting the Muslim prayer room had been evacuated by the time they arrived at the scene and that the area where the responding police officers were stationed was a bit far away.
He also noted that, according to the Department of Health (DOH), those who had not shown symptoms of COVID-19 would not be able to infect others.
As of this writing, the DOH has confirmed 33 COVID-19 cases in the Philippines — a sharp rise from just 10 over the weekend and 24 during President Rodrigo Duterte’s press briefing on Monday night.
This prompted President Rodrigo Duterte to declare a state of public health emergency and suspend all classes in Metro Manila until March 14.
Worldwide, there are over 112,000 COVID-19 cases and 4,009 deaths, with most of the incidents recorded in China, its place of origin.
READ: Coronavirus cases in Philippines soar to 24
READ: Duterte declares emergency as COVID-19 cases double
Earlier, Sinas also said that there were four NCRPO personnel being monitored for a possible COVID-19 infection.
According to Philippine National Police (PNP) acting spokesperson Maj. Gen. Bernard Banac three of the four personnel under monitoring had shown COVID-19 symptoms.
Under the COVID-19 threat, both NCRPO and PNP have suspended foreign travel for both uniformed and non-uniformed personnel.
READ: Sinas: 4 NCRPO personnel being monitored for possible COVID-19 exposure
READ: PNP halts travels, leaves of personnel amid perils of COVID-19
COVID-19 is a respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus that first emerged in late 2019 in Wuhan, a city in Hubei province in China.
The International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses named the novel coronavirus as SARS-CoV-2.
Coronavirus is a family of viruses, which surfaces have a crown-like appearance. The viruses are named for the spikes on their surfaces.
/atm