AS COVID-19 cases and deaths continue to rise, the Philippine National Police (PNP) urges its personnel to be vaccinated against COVID-19, follow health protocols, and not self-medicate.
PNP Chief Police General Guillermo Eleazar strongly reiterated this guidance to all PNP personnel after the PNP Health Service (PNPHS) on Tuesday recorded four more police officers who died due to COVID-19.
“It is with a heavy heart that we announce today the death of our four police personnel which brings the total deaths in the PNP to 96. We also give our condolences to the bereaved families,” Eleazar said.
PNP patient 93 is a 49-year-old policeman assigned in Central Visayas. On August 2, the patient was tested positive and brought to the hospital for medical attention. On August 14, he died due to pneumonia secondary to COVID-19.
PNP patient 94 is a 34-year-old policeman assigned in NCR. On August 7, he was brought to the clinic due to difficulty in breathing. He underwent an RT-PCR test which yielded a positive result.
On August 16, the patient was declared dead by his attending physician. Based also on the records of the police officer, he had diabetes and had his first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine on August 4.
PNP patient 95 is a 41-year-old policeman assigned also in Central Visayas. He was tested positive for COVID-19 on July 30 and after battling the virus for three weeks, the patient succumbed on August 15 due to critical pneumonia.
PNP patient 96 is a 48-year-old policewoman assigned in Camp Crame. She was tested positive of COVID-19 on July 30 and admitted at the Kiangan Emergency and Treatment Facility in Camp Crame.
On August 3, she lost her sense of taste and smell. On August 7, she was transferred to the hospital due to her worsening condition. On August 14, she was intubated but later on pronounced dead by her attending physician.
“As of today, August 17, a total of 81,125 or 36.51 percent of PNP personnel are now fully vaccinated while 95,345 or 42.92 percent are just awaiting the second dose to complete the inoculation. With this, there are only 45,700 or 20.57 percent police personnel who have not been vaccinated,” Eleazar said.
Meanwhile, PNPHS recorded 176 new cases bringing the total number of cases in the PNP to 32,631 with 1,985 active cases while 157 recoveries were also noted raising the total recovered personnel to 30,550.