COTABATO CITY – After two active police officers turned out positive for coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), the city police chief on Thursday ordered all officers and non-uniformed personnel to undergo rapid tests.
“All active and NUP police personnel will be tested to ensure they are safe from the disease and give immediate medical attention for those who have symptoms of the virus,” Lt. Colonel Richard Fiesta, city police director, told reporters in an interview Thursday.
The Cotabato City Police Office (CCPO) has around 250 personnel.
A 39-year-old cop, an organic member of the city police, and a 41-year-old officer of the mobile force unit, were tested positive for the disease during a random rapid test on Tuesday.
Both were assigned at Police Station 3 who were checking on incoming residents from the southern part of the city.
They were manning a police outpost on one end of the Tamontaka bridge that connects the city to adjacent Datu Odin Sinsuat town of Maguindanao province.
“The CCPO testing started Wednesday and will continue Thursday up to Friday,” Fiesta said.
Fiesta also reiterated his earlier directive to all police units to exercise self-restraint in performing their duties to prevent infection. He vowed to work for the acquisition of additional personal protective equipment to protect the police front-liners and their families.To date, the city has recorded 13 Covid-19 positive cases, three of them remains inside the patient care center of the Cotabato Regional and Medical Center while 10 have fully recovered. (PNA)