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Several police staff members from Police Station 6 in Cebu City have tested positive for the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19), Visayas Central Regional Police Director Ignatius Ferro said Tuesday.
Sixteen are regular police officers, 3 are non-uniformed personnel, and 2 are “errand boys” at the station. They have been taken to isolation at the Don Vicente Rama National Secondary School.
Ferro said the outbreak likely started when two illegal drug suspects in his custody were transferred to the Cebu city jail. The two inmates then tested positive for COVID-19 on May 4.
After searching for contacts by the Cebu city health department, all police station personnel were cleaned and 21 tested positive.
“It wasn’t really good news,” said Ferro.
The remaining 38 members of Police Station 6 staff are now quarantined within the station. They are not allowed to return to their homes.
Police Colonel Josefino Ligan, director of the Cebu City Police Office, said half of them report to the service for 12 hours and rest another 12 hours in the isolation center.
“Three units are also involved in contact tracing for those who tested positive,” added Ligan.
Since contact with staff is not allowed, they have established a virtual police station in the nearby church just outside the station.
“We have personnel from the region to handle this,” said Ferro.
