Zamboanga jail posts 14 more COVID cases

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines — Fourteen more persons tested positive for coronavirus disease 2019 or COVID-19 at the Zamboanga City Reformatory Center (CRC) on Sunday.

The new infections brought to 63 the total number of cases in the facility alone, and to 74 in the city, according to the local inter-agency task force on COVID-19.

The cases included six personnel of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology and eight persons deprived of liberty (PDLs), according to Dulce Amor Miravite, chief of the city health office.

The patients were taken to an isolation area of the facility.

The test results for the new cases were released by a newly established gene expert laboratory located at the Zamboanga City Medical Center.

The laboratory was established with the help of the national Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on Emerging Infectious Diseases, to strengthen the testing capability for suspected COVID cases in the countryside.

The local task force allayed fears of the residents due to the rising cases at the CRC.

For three weeks now, no new local community transmissions have been recorded in the city, according to health authorities.

As this developed, at least 60 former PDLs, who were released on orders of the courts, will undergo quarantine for 14 days in a local hotel before they will be sent home.

The 60 were part of the 235 PDLs who were ordered released pending verification of their cases, according to Chief Insp. Nathanel Aljas, CRC warden. 

Meanwhile, a quarantine facility set up at the Philippine Arena complex in Bocaue, Bulacan is ready for mass swab testing tomorrow.

The facility, called “We Heal as One Center,” will initially serve overseas Filpino workers. It was inspected by a team that included Gov. Daniel Fernando on Sunday.

The center has six tents and will be supervised by medical personnel from the Philippine National Police as well as those hired by the provincial government.  –  Ramon Efren Lazaro