Roxas City jail locked down due to COVID-19 infections

By Felipe V. Celino 

 

ROXAS CITY, Capiz — The male dormitory of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) in Brgy. San Jose here was put under lockdown after seven of its personnel and inmates contracted the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)

Jail Senior Inspector Dever Fantilaga, jail warden of BJMP-Roxas City, said four BJMP personnel and three Persons Deprived of Liberty (PDL) were infected.

But Fantilaga assured that the situation of the facility is still manageable as the BJMP personnel were taken to the Ligtas COVID Center in  Dumalag, Capiz while the three PDL’s were moved to a quarantine facility of the city government at Hortus Botanicus in Barangay Milibili here.

As part of the health protocol to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the activities of the jail were suspended, including the visits to the inmates.

Fantilaga said he does not believe that the virus came from the BJMP personnel because they strictly implemented the health protocol.

Before the jail personnel go home or return to work, they undergo quarantine and swab test to ensure that they are free from the virus.

The BMJP-Roxas City has 252 PDLs, wherein 60 underwent swab test and the results have yet to be released.