San Joaquin police on ‘quarantine’ after cop, 4 inmates test positive for COVID-19

By Jennifer P. Rendon

 

The Iloilo Police Provincial Office (IPPO) ordered the personnel of San Joaquin Police Station to go on quarantine effective Friday, January 22, 2021 after four detainees and a cop contracted COVID-19.

Colonel Gilbert Gorero, Iloilo Police Chief, said they heeded the recommendation of the San Joaquin local government to avoid spreading the virus.

It was theorized that the virus originated from a detainee who was arrested over a stabbing incident.

The suspect, a resident of Barangay Cataan, San Joaquin, was arrested January 15.

Lieutenant Dionisio Estacio, San Joaquin Police Chief, said the suspect underwent Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) on January 19 after his father also contracted the virus.

When the suspect tested positive, the three arresting police officers and other detainees were also made to undergo the RT-PCR test on Thursday.

Three of the five detainees and one officer tested positive for the virus by Friday morning.

Gorero said the remaining personnel of San Joaquin Police Station would undergo swab test on January 23.

“It’s not a lockdown per se because they would still perform administrative functions,” he said.

The police station had already been disinfected.

In the meantime, personnel from the 1st Iloilo Provincial Mobile Force Company would take over the operational functions of San Joaquin Police Station.

It can be noted that Barangay Cataan, the village where the stabbing suspect resides, had been placed on enhanced community quarantine on Thursday to avert the spread of the virus.

An executive order was issued declaring Barangay Cataan as a “critical zone,” reason why it was placed under ECQ.

Based on the advisory of the Iloilo Provincial Health Office released evening of January 20, the town has recorded 14 cases.