Cop in coastal Quezon town quarantined after testing positive for coronavirus, showing COVID-19 symptoms

LUCENA CITY—A policeman assigned to General Luna town in Quezon province tested positive for SARS Cov2, the virus that causes COVID-19, and showed symptoms of the disease, according to General Luna Mayor Matt Erwin Florido on Monday (Feb. 15).

Florido announced on his Facebook on Monday morning that a policeman, resident of a village in the town, had himself tested last Feb. 12.

“He had a fever and lost his sense of taste,” Florido said in an online interview.

The 44-year-old policeman was found positive for coronavirus and was listed as the latest COVID-19 patient in the town.

He was immediately brought to an isolation and monitoring facility in Gumaca town.

“An infected policeman is not allowed under home quarantine even if he is asymptomatic,” Florido said.

Local authorities immediately went to work in cleaning up and disinfecting the police station. All policemen were sent to home quarantine pending results of tests to determine if they had been infected, too.

The coastal municipality, located in the province Bondoc Peninsula district, has logged 49 COVID-19 cases, 44 recoveries and two fatalities since the pandemic broke out in March 2020. The town has three remaining active cases.

Florido said the local government has been providing support and aid to its COVID-19 patients.

He said the municipal government has been supplying food to infected persons and their families who are on quarantine.

In August 2020, another local policeman had been infected with coronavirus. The local government at the time also sent all its policemen to quarantine.

The mayor had tasked village watchmen with performing security duty while replacement policemen were being awaited.

TSB