By Jennifer P. Rendon
More than a week after the isolation of its personnel, the San Joaquin Police Station in Iloilo province is now back on normal operation.
Colonel Gilbert Gorero, Iloilo police chief, said personnel who were earlier placed on quarantine were allowed to go back to work on January 30 after the release of their negative Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) result.
But four more policemen tested positive for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
On January 22, the Iloilo Police Provincial Office (IPPO) placed the San Joaquin Police Station on quarantine after four detainees and one cop turned out positive for COVID-19.
The remaining personnel of San Joaquin Police Station were subsequently tested.
Officers from the 1st Iloilo Provincial Mobile Force Company had taken over the operational functions of San Joaquin Police Station.
It was theorized that virus originated from a detainee who was arrested for a stabbing incident on January 15.
The suspect underwent RT-PCR on Tuesday, January 19, after his father also contracted the virus.
When the suspect’s positive result came out, the three arresting policemen and other detainees were also made to undergo the RT-PCR rest on Thursday.
A day later, the result came out that three of the five detainees and one policeman had contracted the virus.
