All are said to be asymptomatic
BY: JOEY A. GABIETA
TACLOBAN CITY-At least 22 police trainees at the Regional Police Training Center, based this city, were quarantined after they were tested positive of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
The trainees were part of the 241 newly-recruit police of the regional Philippine National Police (PNP) said S/Sgt.Lalaine Rosales, the information officer of the training center located in San Jose district.
According to Rosales, the 22 police trainees are now isolated in a facility identified by the PNP regional headquarters and all are asymptomatic.
Aside from the police trainees, two personnel and one mess hall server of the training facility also tested positive of the dreaded virus.
Rosales said that last October 30, the 241 police trainees were turned over to their facility by the PNP-8 headquarters for further police training.
But five of them showed some symptoms like colds and sore throats. They were swabbed on November 13 with four of them tested positive.
Their 40 close contacts, also police trainees, were also swabbed on Nov.19 of which 19 of them tested positive, to include the mess hall server and the two training personnel. Their positive swab test result came out last Nov.21.
Their 94 close contacts are now quarantined.
The training center was immediately decontaminated by the Bureau of Fire and Protection to ensure that the virus would not spread inside the facility.
Meantime, based on the records of the PNP-8, as of November 27, there were 235 police officers who were infected of COVID-19 of which 172 of them have recovered.
Also, based on the report of the regional office of the Department of Health (DOH), Eastern Visayas has now 8,518 COVID-19 cases with 68 new cases were reported on Thursday night.
The new cases were from Samar province with 34 cases; Leyte, 30; Eastern Samar, three; and one from Northern Samar.
The DOH has also reported two new deaths involving a 72-year old woman from Calbiga, Samar who died last Nov.23 and a 70-year old man from Tanauan, Leyte who died last Nov.25.
The region has now 88 deaths due to COVID-19.
