Pangasinan PNP, DOH-Calabarzon on lockdown

MANILA, Philippines — The Pangasinan provincial police office has been placed on lockdown after 15 police officers tested positive for the coronavirus disease 2019 or COVID-19.

Col. Redrico Maranan, Pangasinan police director, said the infected police officers, 14 of them asymptomatic, are in quarantine facilities.

Maranan said disinfection of police offices as well as contact tracing are ongoing.

He said all the 2,745 personnel of the Pangasinan police would undergo COVID-19 testing in compliance with the protocols of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases.

Brig. Gen. Rodolfo Azurin Jr., Ilocos police regional director, urged police officers to give priority to their health so they can serve their community well.

”In case you don’t feel good, you should inform your superiors so that appropriate medical attention can be given,” Azurin said.

He reminded police officers who go home to their families everyday to observe health protocols, such as  wearing of face masks and physical distancing.

“Charity begins at home. They should take care of themselves first so that they can take care of others,” Azurin said.

Meanwhile, the Department of Health-Calabarzon office will be closed from July 27 to 31 for disinfection after seven of its staff tested positive for the virus, regional director Eduardo Janairo said.

Janairo said six of the cases are active.

”Close contacts of those found positive for the virus will undergo quarantine to prevent its spread,” he said.

Emerging epicenter

Meanwhile, Cagayan Valley is emerging as the epicenter of COVID-19 in Northern Luzon.

Forty-seven cases were recorded in the region yesterday, the highest in one day.

Twelve of those infected are medical workers, including a doctor and two nurses.

Local transmission of the virus was recorded in Iguig town, where 12 cases were reported, and five in Aritao.

In Cagayan province, two locally stranded individuals who returned to Calayan Island in Babuyan channel are the first confirmed cases in the area.

Five members of a family were infected in Aritao, Nueva Vizcaya. It is another case of local transmission, according to authorities.

The towns of Ramon, Delfin Albano, Naguilian, Angadanan and Cordon as well as Cauayan City in Isabela also logged new cases.

From only 120 cases on July 5, the number of COVID-19 cases in Cagayan Valley rose to 293 yesterday.

Ilocos has 266 cases while the Cordilleras recorded 184. – Raymund Catindig, Ed Amoroso, Arnell Ozaeta