Manila police station on lockdown after spike in COVID-19 cases

by Franco Luna (Philstar.com), 15 Mar 2021

MANILA, Philippines — Manila Police District Station 11 in Binondo was placed under special quarantine lockdown amid a spike in coronavirus cases among the station’s personnel.

This was confirmed by city information officer Julius Leonen in a text message to reporters.

Station testing: According to the Manila Police District, 46 of the 121 personnel that underwent swab testing came out positive for the virus. Only 37 so far have tested negative, while 38 are still awaiting results.

MPD added that the 38 without test results yet will be quarantined inside their stations and police community precincts during the lockdown and until the results come out.

In the Gandara precinct, one officer has tested positive so far, with 33 others either waiting for results or without swab tests. Four cops in the San Nicolas precinct tested positive, while no swab tests have yet been conducted in the station’s Juan Luna precinct.

“The remaining personnel with negative results will continue their duty. Other activities in the police station are suspended,” the police district said. “The 30-person augmentation will be distributed to police community precincts and sections affected by contact tracing,” it added.

PNP cases rising, too: This comes after Police Brig. Gen. Leo Francisco, Manila Police District director, informed Manila City Mayor Francisco Domagoso on Sunday that 17 cops from the same station tested positive for the virus the week prior.

Within the national police as a whole, exactly 12,240 cases of the coronavirus have been recorded—with one of them being Police Gen. Debold Sinas, the country’s top cop.

The update comes barely days after the Philippine National Police began to intensify police presence in Metro Manila to “compel” citizens to comply with minimum health standards in an attempt to quell the spread of the coronavirus.

Starting Monday, the PNP began rolling out a total of 9,634 cops from the National Capital Region Police Office’s five districts to “assist” Metro Manila local government units in enforcing curfew.

Government scrambling to ‘compel’ compliance: On Monday morning, Manila City Mayor Francisco Domagoso announced that six more barangays in his locality were also placed under lockdown to curb the spread of the virus.

“Station commanders of police stations covering the said barangays are hereby directed to employ and deploy officers and personnel in strategic locations and areas necessary for the effective implementation of the ECQ,” the mayor’s executive order reads.

As of Sunday noon, about 1,549 active cases have been recorded by the city health department in the City of Manila with a running total of 28,451 recoveries and 824 deaths.

Earlier Monday, the Department of Health recorded 5,404 cases of the coronavirus, the highest daily increase in seven months.

It has been 362 days since enhanced community quarantine was first hoisted. The Philippines is still under the world’s longest quarantine.