Another jail in Cebu confirms 18 new COVID-19 cases

CEBU CITY—Another jail here has recorded 18 new cases of the new coronavirus disease, or COVID-19.

The 18 patients — 15 male and three female — are inmates at the province-owned Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC), Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia said on Wednesday.

One of the inmates — a 44-year-old detainee from Catmon town in Cebu — died on Wednesday.

Garcia said the inmates had been isolated even before their test results came out.

The inmates were earlier showing symptoms of  “influenza-like illness,” prompting jail officials to isolate them as part of protocol.

As of April 29, the CPDRC’s neighboring facility, the Cebu City Jail, has 212 COVID-19 cases.

A jail guard in Lapu-Lapu City and inmate at the Mandaue City Jail also tested positive.

According to Garcia, the initial investigation of the CPDRC suggests that a male member of the jail administrative staff could have been the source of the infection.

The staffer defied the order to stay inside the jail and instead continued to go home in Barangay Sambag Dos in Cebu City.

Another male CPDRC staffer also tested positive.

Garcia ordered an “aggressive contact tracing” at the Capitol-administered provincial jail.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in Cebu province, two new cases were also confirmed — a 31-year-old woman in Minglanilla town and a 58-year-old man in Daanbantayan town.

In its daily report, the Department of Health in Central Visayas has recorded a total of 631 cases of COVID-19 on Cebu Island.

Also on Wednesday, Cebu City recorded nine new cases, bringing its total number of positive cases to 555.

Mandaue City recorded five new cases, bringing its total to 17.

Lapu-Lapu City recorded two new cases, bringing its total to 34.

/atm