KORONADAL CITY—At least 21 detainees at the city police’s jail had been infected with SARS Cov2, the virus that causes COVID-19, a city health official said.
Dr. Edito Vego, Koronadal City health chief, said the inmates may have acquired the virus from a visiting relative, a new detainee or their guards who unknowingly carried the virus.
Detainees who had shown symptoms of COVID-19 were tested last week and results came out on Tuesday.
Vego said since many inmates, who tested positive, were without symptoms and had no disease that coronavirus could aggravate they were allowed to remain in their cells.
Those who are seniors were separated from the other detainees and placed under close watch by city health workers.
Results of tests on 30 other detainees have yet to come out, said Vego. He added that those tested included policemen guarding the detention facility.
As a result of the infections, regular visits to the jail facility had been suspended, said Lt. Annaliza Domingo, chief of the Koronadal police’s Women and Children Protection Desk.