2 cops in Cebu die due to COVID-19

CEBU CITY – Two policemen in this city were the latest fatalities of the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Cebu.

The policemen died hours apart on Sunday while admitted in separate hospital – one at a private hospital, the other at the government-owned Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC).

Col. Cydric Earl Tamayo, officer-in-charge of the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO), declined to identify the policemen to protect the privacy of their families.

One of the fatalities was an operative of the Abellana Police Station detailed at the police crime laboratory.

The other was an operative of the Crisis Response Battalion (CRB) team which was the unit assigned to secure places under lockdown.

The policeman assigned at the Abellana Police Station had a fever, cough, and diarrhea and was experiencing nausea when admitted to a private hospital last June 4.

He underwent a reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test upon admission and was found to be infected with the virus last June 10.

The policeman from CRB, on the other hand, was admitted to a government-owned hospital last June 7 after figuring in a motorcycle accident.

“But prior and during the accident, he was not feeling well already,” said Tamayo.

The policeman underwent a RT-PCR test last June 8. Two days after, on June 10, he was found to have contracted the dreaded virus.

Tamayo said the bodies of the two policemen were cremated within 12 hours after their death.

The CCPO, he added, would help shoulder the hospital bills of the two policemen.

As of June 14, the entire island of Cebu has 4,381 cases of COVID-19 — 3,434 in Cebu City, 401 in Mandaue City, 175 in Lapu-Lapu City, and 346 in Cebu province.

At least 18 overseas Filipino workers who returned to Cebu and seven health workers tested positive of the virus.