CITY OF MALOLOS, Bulacan – Another eighteen elderly detainees and a prison guard at the Bulacan Provincial Jail were isolated after tested positive for coronavirus disease.
Ret. Col. Marcos Rivero, the provincial warden said on Thursday that the 18 detainees and a jail guard were confirmed positive of COVID-19 after they undergo a swab test last Friday.
According to Rivero, the 18 persons deprived of liberty, age 50 to 60, had fever and cough symptoms and were placed on quarantine at one of the cells inside the provincial jail while the prison guard has undergone a home quarantine in their home in Pandi town.
“Ang instruction ni Gov. Daniel Fernando ay panatilihin ang pag-inom ng vitamins, panatilihin ang pagiging-malinis ng isolation facility at mag-suob para sa mabilis na recovery ng mga apektadong inmates,” Rivero said.
The swab test of the inmates was conducted by Provincial COVID-19 Command Center under the Provincial Health Office.
According to Rivero, the 18 inmates were infected with a detainee who died of tuberculosis and pneumonia and confirmed Covid-19 positive recently.
“Kaya agad na pinag-utos ni Gov. Fernando na agad ipa-swab test ang lahat ng mga inmates na may nararamdamang lagnat at ubo,” Rivero added.
Rivero added that right now the condition of all the inmates are currently being monitored and when a detainee becomes ill, he is immediately isolated to prevent infection of coronavirus.
Rivero also thanked the Provincial Government led by Fernando for providing support to the inmates of the provincial jail especially now that we are in the middle of fighting the pandemic.
Rivero had banned visits to the jail since March to prevent the spread of the virus.
It was learned that on July 17, 2020, 18 out of 21 inmates or Persons Deprive of Liberty (PDL) and 3 out of 13 jail guards who underwent swab tests were tested positive of coronavirus.
Rivero said the 18 COVID-19 positive inmates were placed in separate detention cell made as quarantine facility while the jail guards were brought to Bulacan Local Governance Center quarantine facility where they were all treated for 14 days and all declared recovered from the dreaded disease.
Meanwhile, the Provincial Health Office (PHO) has recorded sixty-four patients recovered from coronavirus disease (Covid-19), bringing the total number of recovered COVID- 19 cases to 2422.
PHO also confirmed that as of Monday afternoon 59 new patients were confirmed positive of the dreaded coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) and three fatalities bringing the total number of death to 89.
Records showed that out of the total 3,893 confirmed Covid-19 cases, 1,382 are on active status with 853 symptomatic and 529 asymptomatic cases.