More Koronadal City inmates test positive for COVID-19
HEALTH • 08:45 AM Sun Feb 14, 2021
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By:
Edwin O. Fernandez
Koronadal City FB page
KORONADAL CITY – Thirty-three more inmates of the police detention facility here have tested positive for novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), raising the number of detainees to have contracted the disease to 54, official said Saturday.
Dr. Edito Vego, Koronadal City Health Office (CHO), said the 33 new infections were among the 42 second batch of who were swabbed after 21 of their colleagues in the packed lock up cell turned out positive of the disease two days ago.
Included in the new infections were police officers and relatives of some of the inmates, Dr. Vego said.
The new patients included two police officers and seven other residents, including a family of four.
“They are now all isolated, contact tracing efforts are underway, those isolated are asymptomatic,” Vego said of the patients, including two senior citizens who may have other health issues.
Vego said lock-up cell visitors from last month until Tuesday this week are being contract traced.
Visit privileges have been suspended since Wednesday.
Vego theorized that the virus could have been “brought in” by one of the new inmates, from police officers who regularly come in and out of the facility or from visiting relatives.
Lt. Col. Joefel Siason, city police chief, said the facility was designed for only 20 inmates but at the time of the outbreak it has 65 detainees. (Edwin O. Fernandez)