31 COVID cases recorded in BJMP

By Glazyl Y. Masculino

BACOLOD City – The Emergency Operations Center-Task Force (EOC-TF) here urged the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) to have the Persons Deprived of Liberty (PDLs) undergo swab tests and ensure that only those with negative results are brought back to the detention facilities.

This was discussed during the virtual meeting of the EOC and the BJMP last Friday, in light of the increasing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) transmission among PDLs in various BJMP facilities.

The EOC Contact Tracing cluster reported 31 COVID-positive cases at BJMP facilities, as of June 11.

Jail Inspector Jude Ledesma, representative of the BJMP-Negros Occidental, said that of the 31 cases, nine are from Bacolod and 22 are from other towns and cities in the province.

The EOC said that if a PDL tested positive for COVID-19, he must be extracted from the detention facility and brought to BJMP isolation facility for a 14-day quarantine.

Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran, chair of the City Inter-Agency Task Force, said there must be strict enforcement of these protocols to prevent further transmission in detention facilities.

Earlier, the BJMP said that newly committed PDLs are first placed at the BJMP isolation facility, pending their swab test results.