DAVAO CITY — Thirty detainees of Toril Police Precinct here were tested positive for Coronavirus.
City Health Officer Dr. Josephine Villafuerte in an interview with Newsline.ph on October 6, confirmed that 30 of the 32 detainees who were about to be transferred to Maa City Jail on October 1, 2020, were tested positive for Covid-19.
The detainees underwent swab testing at Sta. Ana Testing Center as part of the established protocol before they will be allowed entry to the City Jail. The testing was conducted on October 1, and the result which was released on October 2 showed that 30 of the 32 inmates due for commitment were found Covid-19 positive.
Villafuerte said, “We immediately implemented onsite isolation, they are isolated in the police isolation facility because no one takes care of them if we will bring them to the isolation facility and we need more police personnel to guard them given the risk”.
Onsite isolation or mass isolation will mean they will be placed in a place together and will be taken care of by health authorities, and their vitamins and food properly monitored.
The city cannot bring the detainees to an isolation facility because it requires more security personnel and no one will take care of their food and other needs, “It is too risky” Villafuerte added.
The onsite mass isolation was done by the city in the case of barangay 23-C for Badjao communities and it was a success.
The medical frontliners of Toril District are taking care of the isolation facility.
The Newsline.ph learned that on October 1, Toril precinct had 45 detainees.
Villafuerte said they have been conducting massive contact tracing among families and visitors of the detainees, and those who are still in the detention cell of October 1 were also placed in a separate quarantine facility.
Health authorities suspect that it could be that one detainee was infected when he entered the cell, or, a visitor could have infected the detainees “All these are being investigated,” Villafuerte added.-ezc/Newsline.ph
