The Philippine National Police (PNP) on Sunday logged 166 new Covid-19 recoveries, increasing the police force’s recovery tally to 36,877.
Based on the latest data from the PNP Health Service, this is equivalent to a 94 percent recovery rate out of a total of 39,224 infections since the start of the pandemic.
A total of 118 new cases, meanwhile, brought the active case tally to 2,231 while another police personnel succumbed to the disease, raising the death toll to 116.
PNP chief Gen. Guillermo Eleazar said the latest fatality was 58-year-old non-uniformed personnel assigned in Eastern Visayas region.
“The PNP mourns another death caused by the Covid-19 and assures the family of the personnel every assistance and benefits they needed,” Eleazar said.
The PNP Health Service said the personnel was brought by his family to Northern Samar Provincial Hospital after experiencing the difficulty of breathing and cough on Sept. 19.
The patient was later referred to be transferred to a hospital in Tacloban City but the transfer was aborted on Sept. 20 due to his worsening condition. A reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test showed that he was positive for Covid-19.
On Sept. 21, the patient died after suffering cardiac arrest. Medical records show that the patient has existing comorbidities and has not yet been vaccinated against coronavirus.
So far, the PNP has 158,301 or 71.09 percent of its personnel who are fully vaccinated while 56,017 or 25.15 percent have already received their first dose and 8,374 or 3.76 percent remain not vaccinated against Covid-19.
Meanwhile, Eleazar reminded again the PNP front-liners to always respect the rights of health and safety protocol violators.
This, after Cpl. Medel Biloan of the Manila Police District (MPD) was caught on video aiming his gun at teenagers who violated curfew on Sept. 24.
“Noon pa man, ang laging bilin ko sa ating kapulisan ay respetuhin ang karapatan ng ating mga kababayan sa pagpapatupad ng anumang patakaran at batas. Sa kasong ito, hindi katanggap-tanggap ang ginawa ni Police Corporal Biloan gaano man kabuti ang kanyang intensyon dahil bukod sa pananakot sa mga kabataan gamit ang kayang baril, lumalabas na siya mismo ay lumabag sa batas nang makita siyang umiinom sa kalsada at walang face mask (I have been advising our police personnel to respect the rights of our people in the implementation of any law. In this case, what Police Corporal Biloan did is unacceptable though his intention is good because aside from harassing the teenagers using his gun, he himself violated the law for drinking liquor outside his residence and without face mask),” Eleazar said in a statement on Saturday.
Eleazar lauded the MPD for its quick action on the complaint against Biloan who was already disarmed and currently under the custody of the MPD pending the investigation of the case.
As law enforcers, the PNP personnel should serve as role models so as not to affect their credibility in enforcing the laws as well as the health and safety protocols against Covid-19.
He said this should serve as a warning to other police officers to be mindful of their actions even they are off duty.
Eleazar also reminded the public to follow the quarantine rules and also advised parents to take care of their children amid the threat of the pandemic. (PNA)