(INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / NINO JESUS ORBETA)
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine National Police’s COVID-19 death toll rose to 35 this week after a 54-year-old police officer from the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) succumbed to the viral illness.
In a statement on Saturday, PNP officer in charge Lt. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar said that the police officer died on March 18 at the V. Luna Medical Center (VLMC) in Quezon City.
Eleazar said that the initial investigation revealed that two weeks prior to the police officer’s hospital admission, he manifested fever and productive cough and took over the counter medication.
Facade of the PNP headquarters in Camp Crame (Image from pnp.gov.ph website)
But on March 18, he experienced difficulty of breathing which led to his admission to VLMC.
“Around 11:30 a.m. of same date, he presented without cardiac tone and blood pressure, and CPR was performed to no avail. He was pronounced dead by the attending physician at 11:59 a.m, March 18, 2021,” the PNP officer in charge said.
“The police officer was subjected to a swab test upon admission on March 18, which resulted POSITIVE for COVID-19,” he added.
The PNP has so far logged 12,898 COVID-19 cases, including 1,239 active cases and 11,642 recoveries.
As a precautionary measure amid the rising cases of COVID-19, the PNP has limited the number of visitors entering its headquarters in Camp Crame, Quezon City.
In addition, non-uniformed personnel of the PNP were already advised to work from home, and all heads of offices were directed to assess how to implement the new work arrangement “without compromising their respective offices’ administrative works and outputs.”