(FILE Photo)
MANILA, Philippines — One more police officer has died of COVID-19, bringing the death toll in the ranks of the Philippine National Police (PNP) to 126.
Updates from the PNP’s Health Service showed that 349 new infections were recorded as of Thursday. However, a higher recovery count of 482 meant that the active infections dropped from 3,615 on Wednesday to 3,482.
According to PNP chief Gen. Dionardo Carlos, the 38-year old deceased police officer from Nueva Ecija also had chronic kidney disease (CKD).
According to Carlos, the officer was fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
Carlos said prior to his death, the police officer was already allowed to report for duty on a work-from-home basis because of his comorbidity. However, when he was on the way for a scheduled dialysis last January 13, the officer, according to his wife, lost consciousness and was rushed to the Nueva Ecija Medical Center.
At the hospital, the police officer was found to have suffered a stroke, and was declared brain dead.
“He was also on work-from-home status since the start of the pandemic, however, on January 13 while on their way to the hospital for his scheduled dialysis, he lost consciousness,” Carlos said in a statement.
“He was then rushed to the Nueva Ecija Medical Center and was diagnosed with stroke and declared brain dead. Laboratory tests also revealed that he was positive for COVID-19,” he added.
The police officer was officially declared dead the following day after experiencing acute respiratory failure, pneumonia, and CKD.
“I would like to extend my condolences to the bereaved family of our police officer and assure them that we will give all the assistance they needed,” Carlos assured.
The PNP has so far recorded 46,543 COVID-19 cases. In terms of vaccinations, 96.33 percent or 217,034 of its personnel have been vaccinated against COVID-19, while 60,664 or 27.95 percent have received booster shots.
There are still 7,173 PNP personnel who are waiting to get their second COVID-19 vaccine dose, leaving only 0.49 percent or 1,107 unvaccinated.
The country recently saw an uptick in COVID-19 infections, with the Department of Health (DOH) reporting 56,561 active cases on January 6, 2022, to 270,728 on Wednesday.
Health experts have attributed this sudden rise to the Omicron variant of the virus, which is said to be more transmissible than the already more infectious Delta variant.
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