ILOILO City – Seventy-eight policemen underwent coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) testing on May 15 at Camp Delgado, headquarters of the Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6) here.
Of these cops, 26 were from the PRO-6’s Headquarter Service and 22 from the Regional Health Service, and 30 from Iloilo Police Provincial Office.
They were considered COVID-19 frontliners as they were assigned to, among others, man quarantine control points and checkpoints, according to Police Lieutenant Colonel Gilbert Gorero, PRO-6 spokesperson.
The health of policemen is one of the priorities of the PRO-6 in this time of COVID-19 pandemic, according to Gorero.
The 78 policemen were just the first batch of PRO-6 COVID-19 frontliners to be tested. There would be more in the days ahead.
“As we continuously discharge our mandated functions, I want to ensure the health of our personnel and their families. They must be safe from COVID-19,” said Police Brigadier General Rene Pamuspusan, PRO-6 director.
Results of the tests – conducted at the Western Visayas Medical Center laboratory – were yet to be released.
People can catch COVID-19 from others who have the virus. The disease can spread from person to person through small droplets from the nose or mouth which are spread when a person with COVID-19 coughs or exhales.
These droplets also land on objects and surfaces around the person. Other people then catch COVID-19 by touching these objects or surfaces, then touching their eyes, nose or mouth./PN
