6 companions of detainee who died of COVID-19 in Cebu jail isolated

CEBU CITY –– The Bureau of Jail Management and Penology in Central Visayas (BJMP-7) has isolated the six companions of a detainee who died on Sunday due to  coronavirus disease (COVID-19.)

Senior Inspector Jay Ylanan, information of the BJMP, said they wanted to make sure that the six inmates, who shared the same detention cell with the deceased inmate at the Cebu City Jail (CCJ) were not infected with the virus.

“They (six inmates) are being isolated now (at a newly completed building at the CCJ),” he said in a phone interview.

Jail officers were also investigating to find out how at least two inmates of the CCJ acquired the COVID-19.

Aside from the two inmates, two female officers of the BJMP-7 also tested positive for the COVID-19 and were now on home quarantine.

The city government is conducting mass testing to over 6,000 inmates at the CCJ after a 41-year old detainee died of COVID-19 on Sunday.

Ylanan said they were doing their best to protect all the inmates and jail officers from the virus.

“Although our jail is very overcrowded, we are still trying to follow the precautionary measures, including social distancing as much as possible,” he said.

As a precautionary measure to contain the virus, he said jail officers have implemented their lockdown before any of the inmates or the jail personnel tested positive for the virus.

Ylanan said they also suspended the jail visits at the CCJ while jail guards also underwent disinfection.

Starting April 21, the BMJP established a drop-off point at the Fuente Osmeña rotunda, where relatives of the inmates could send various items like medicines and food that inmates had requested.

On Tuesday, Cebu recorded 10 new cases of the COVID-19 –seven from Cebu City while three others from Mandaue City.

The Mandaue City Public Information Office, on the other hand, announced that there were three new cases in Barangay Cambaro, a densely populated area at the central portion of the city.

The new cases in Mandaue include a 60-year-old female, a 20-year-old female, and a 16-year-old male patient.

All three were admitted at the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center in Cebu City.

“The Mandaue City Health Office and the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office has already disinfected and cordoned off the areas involved and has instructed them (residents) to undergo strict home quarantine. No one can come in and out of the said area,” said the Mandaue City information office in its announcement on social media.

With the 10 new cases, Cebu Island now has 196 COVID-19 cases with seven deaths and 20 recoveries.

These include the 173 cases in Cebu City, three cases in Cebu province, 11 cases in Lapu-Lapu City, and nine cases in Mandaue City.