9 more cops contract COVID-19; PNP tally now at 140

FILE – Members of Philippine National Police (PNP) line up for swab specimen collection at the Caloocan City Hall on Wednesday, May 6, 2020. INQUIRER/GRIG C.MONTEGRANDE

MANILA, Philippines — Nine more policemen have contracted the coronavirus disease, raising the total number of COVID-19 cases among police personnel to 140, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Archie Gamboa said Tuesday.

“As of the latest count, there are 140 confirmed COVID-19 cases among PNP personnel which is around 1.26 percent of the total number of COVID-19 cases,” Gamboa said in an online press briefing.

READ: Coronavirus cases in PNP now at 131

Of the 140 cases, five are confined in hospitals for treatment, 64 are staying in quarantine centers while 17 are observing home quarantine, said Gamboa.

The number of recovered PNP personnel stood at 49 while the total count of COVID-19 fatalities remained at four.

The PNP chief added that the COVID-19 testing facility for police officers is still pending approval from the World Health Organization and Department of Health.

“To enhance PNP capability to keep all 205,000 personnel COVID-19 resilient, we sought the Department of Health and World Health Organization approval to develop and operate our own RT-PCR (reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction) testing laboratory, hopefully as soon as we are done with the proficiency test, as early as two weeks,” he said.

In previous interviews, Gamboa said the testing facility was established in Camp Crame, PNP Headquarters in Quezon City.

The COVID-19 facility, which will cover police officers from Calabarzon region, Metro Manila and National Capital Region, is expected to have a testing capacity of 40 tests a day.