MATI CITY, DAVAO ORIENTAL — Some thirty-one (31) inmates and personnel of the Davao Oriental Reformatory and Rehabilitation Center underwent swab testing for Coronavirus-19 on Monday.
In a press statement issued by the provincial information office, it stated that the Provincial Task Force on COVID-19 has started the select mandatory swab testing for COVID-19 in enclosed institutions.
The Task Force led by action officer Dr. Reden Bersaldo conducted the swab test in consonance with the Executive Order No. 27 issued by Governor Nelson Dayanghirang, in compliance to the order of the Department of the Interior and Local Government to test Persons Deprived of Liberty (PDL) in enclosed institutions such as penal institutions, reformation centers, and orphanages, among others.
Individuals in enclosed facilities and institutions are prone to catch the virus given distance among people and the movement within one roof, such a situation triggers a possibility of contamination among people, a reason why the swab test is necessary.
As part of the health protocol, Bersaldo said ” Persons Deprived of Liberty will undergo swab testing before being committed to the institution and before being released”.
But given the resources, the provincial government only tested 5 percent of the total population of the institution.
“We cannot test everyone. We have to be judicious in the use of our swab test, so we pegged 5 percent of the population to be tested,” Bersaldo in the statement added.
Those who were tested include persons with symptoms, senior citizens, and those with comorbidity.
Assistant Provincial Jail Warden Mr. Apollo Conde emphasized the importance of the test given the fact that PDLs in some detention facilities have been tested positive of Coronavirus.
“This is an important precautionary measure against the coronavirus,” he said.
While we hope that no one will yield a positive result, the Provincial Jail has already put up contingency measures in case some of its inmates or staff will test positive by establishing fourteen (14) isolation areas.
“We have already put up an isolation area if in case someone will test positive,” he said, noting that the 14-day isolation will also be applied to those who will be committed to the institution. “We will isolate them for 14 days before joining them with the rest,” he added.
The facility is also equipped with safety protocols such as thermal scanner, foot bath, hand sanitizer and their vehicles have been disinfected.
Since March, the visiting hours have been ordered suspended to protect the inmates from possible infection from people outside the facility.
Aside from the protocol, the Provincial Jail has been decongested as around 40 inmates under probation were released through a national directive.
Other detention facilities which will be subjected to swab testing include Provincial Sub Jails in the municipalities of Lupon and Baganga, Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) in Lupon, Balay Silangan Drug Reformation Center, Happy Home which is a halfway house for former rebels, the Reception Study and Diagnostic Center (RSDC), police barracks, and Philippine Army battalions and the brigade.-Newsline with PIO/DavOr
