CITY OF CALAPAN – Twenty-three more inmates at Oriental Mindoro Provincial Jail (OMPJ) are among the 28 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases in this city, a report on Monday evening by the City Health and Sanitation Department said.
A female staff at the OMPJ also tested positive of the virus while the other four confirmed patients are family members of the one who first tested COVID-19 positive in Barangay (village) San Antonio.
On Sept. 10, Calapan Mayor Arnan Panaligan reported 15 provincial jail inmates tested positive of the virus and appealed to the provincial government for transfer of the inmates from the cell in this city to the bigger and new provincial jail in Bansud.
Panaligan said he expected the number of COVID-19 positive inmates to increase because 188 inmates were swabbed.
On Sept. 12, in a revised report by the city, it was clarified that 11 inmates tested COVID-19 positive, instead of 10 as earlier reported. On Sept. 13, 19 more inmates tested positive.
Based on the reports, a total of 68 inmates have tested COVID-19 positive.
Panaligan said he understands they are still waiting for results for the 120 remaining samples from the RITM (Research Institute for Tropical Medicine).
As of 6pm Monday, September 14, the city has a total of 282 confirmed cases, with 115 active cases, 164 recoveries and three deaths.