NO LONGER VIRUS-FREE The first confirmed coronavirus case at New Bilibid Prison was reported on Thursday, just days after 18 women inmates who had tested positive were transferred to the national penitentiary’s quarantine facility. —PHOTO courtesy of BUCOR PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE
The New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa City on Thursday reported its first confirmed case of the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19)—an inmate who was admitted to its hospital on April 17.
According to a statement from the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor), the prisoner from the medium security compound has been transferred to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine where he remains confined.
The BuCor said that 40 inmates who were exposed to the patient had been placed in isolation at Site Harry, the quarantine facility in the national penitentiary with a capacity of 300 patients. The NBP medical staff who attended to the inmate were also in quarantine.
“The BuCor medical staff is now providing focused medical care to all suspect persons deprived of liberty and to those found positive,” it added. The announcement was made a day after the Muntinlupa City government protested the transfer of 18 COVID-19 positive inmates from the Correctional Institution for Women (CIW) in Mandaluyong City to the NBP’s Site Harry.
Mayor Jaime Fresnedi said the BuCor did not coordinate with city officials who were concerned about the possible spread of the coronavirus in the area.
In a resolution of the Muntinlupa city council, it said the transfer “compromised the safety and health of the people of Muntinlupa, in particular the safety and health of the … more than 20,000 inmates of the national penitentiary…, including the more than 7,000 all-male inmates of the medium security compound.”
The resolution noted the recommendation of Muntinlupa Rep. Ruffy Biazon to transfer the CIW inmates to a “more secure facility” with the capability to handle COVID-19 cases pending an evaluation of the quarantine facility at NBP.