2 Cebu City policemen die of COVID-19

CHECKPOINT Policemen manning quarantine checkpoints are at risk of contracting the new coronavirus disease. In Cebu City, 48 policemen have been infected by the virus, two of whom died just hours apart on Sunday. (Photo by EDWIN BACASMAS / Philippine Daily Inquirer)

CEBU CITY, Cebu, Philippines —Two city policemen died hours apart in separate hospitals on Sunday, becoming the latest fatalities of the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Cebu.

Col. Cydric Earl Tamayo, acting chief of the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO), declined to identify the policemen to protect the privacy of their families.

One was a member of the Abellana police station who was detailed at the police crime laboratory here. He had fever, cough and diarrhea and was experiencing nausea when brought to a private hospital on June 4.

After undergoing a reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test, he was found to be infected with the virus on June 10.

The other belonged to the CCPO’s Crisis Response Battalion team, which was assigned to secure places in the city that are under lockdown. He was admitted to Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center on June 7 after figuring in a motorcycle accident.

Risks involved

“Prior and during the accident, he was not feeling well already,” said Tamayo. Results of a RT-PCR test conducted on June 8 showed that he had contracted the virus.

The bodies were cremated within 12 hours after their death.

Tamayo said the CCPO would help shoulder the hospital bills of the two policemen. He assured CCPO personnel of support from the Regional Health Service of the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas, especially those assigned to secure places with cases of COVID-19.

“We are front-liners. We cannot stop performing our duties just because there is this COVID-19. That’s the risk we have to take,” he said.

A report from police regional office showed that at least 48 policemen in Cebu City were infected with COVID-19, and more than half of them have recovered.

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 workers who returned to Cebu and seven health workers also tested positive for the virus.

Infected nurses

In Tagbilaran City, Bohol province, two nurses were afflicted with COVID-19 and remained isolated in a private hospital.

Mayor John Geesnell Yap II said the hospital management and the city health department were tracing people who had close contact with the nurses.

Yap urged city residents to keep wearing face masks and observe physical distancing outside their homes to help stop the spread of the virus.

—Nestle Semilla and Leo Udtohan