Police units in Region 12 (Soccsksargen) have stepped up their control measures against the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) as infections have started to increase anew in the past several days, an official said on Monday.
Lt. Col. Maria Joyce Birrey, assistant head of the Police Regional Office-12’s Community Affairs and Development Division, said all police offices and stations in the region’s four provinces and four cities have been ordered to tighten their guards to prevent a possible outbreak of the disease.
She said they already recorded a total of 813 confirmed infections and six related deaths among their ranks since the pandemic started in March last year.
But, she said they only have 56 active cases as of last Friday, one of the lowest since April, with seven patients admitted in various hospitals, and 51 under close observation in designated isolation facilities.
Birrey said all police stations, offices, and personnel were mandated to strictly follow the health protocols, especially the wearing of face masks and face shields, and the observance of safe physical distancing.
She said provincial, city, and municipal police stations and offices have been conducting regular testing for their personnel, especially those assigned in vulnerable areas, in coordination with the Regional Health Service-12.
“Covid-19 vaccination is also required for personnel assigned in checkpoints and the border control points,” Birrey told reporters.
She said the inoculation activities are ongoing for police personnel who have signified to avail of the vaccines through the rural health units using AstraZeneca vaccines.
Although the Philippine National Police has not made the vaccination compulsory, the majority of the more than 6,000 police commissioned, non-commissioned, and non-uniformed personnel in the region have reportedly signed for inoculation.
Birrey said they are hoping that all eligible personnel in the region will eventually become fully vaccinated and protected against Covid-19 as they face the threats from new variants, including the dreaded Delta strain.
The Department of Health-Region 12 has recorded 488 new Covid-19 cases on Sunday, bringing the active cases in the area to 3,893, the highest in the last three weeks.
The confirmed infections in the region since last year already reached a total of 33,731, with 1,088 related deaths and 28,745 recoveries.
Source: Philippines News Agency