PNP chief, Gen. Debold Sinas. (File photo)
MANILA – The operation of a molecular laboratory at the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7) to be used for coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) testing of police personnel is set to start by the end of the month, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief, Gen. Debold Sinas, said on Monday.
The facility, located within the compound of Camp Sotero Cabahug in Cebu City, will accommodate real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests for police and their dependents for possible infection.
Sinas said they are already finalizing the necessary permits from the Department of Health (DOH) and the training of the PNP medical personnel who will operate the facility.
He said the facility will be able to accommodate 80 Covid-19 tests per day.
“Sa (In) Cebu City, once ma-activate ‘yun at mag graduate po ang mga analyst namin din at technician (once we activate it and our analysts and technician complete their training), the Cebu laboratory will operate by the end of the month or first week of January (the latest),” he told reporters during a press conference held at Camp Crame.
The molecular laboratory in a police camp in Davao City is also awaiting certification from the DOH.
Sinas said they are beefing up the Covid-19 testing of their personnel to prevent the further spread of the virus.
“We’ll encourage the regional director to conduct preventive or early detection test because part of the strategy of the government is not to wait for the situation to worsen or for symptoms to appear before we do the testing,” said Sinas.
The PNP earlier said it would implement regular swab testing for police front-liners deployed for maintenance of peace and order and the observance of minimum health protocol on the streets.
Based on PNP's data as of Sunday, 85,623 out of a total of 221,038 police officers have already been tested for Covid-19.
Of the 85,623, 2,092 were from the National Headquarters, 22,273 from the National Support Units while 61,258 were from the Police Regional Offices.
As of Sunday, a total of 8,578 policemen have tested positive for Covid-19, with 439 active cases, 8,112 recoveries, and 27 deaths.
Of the active cases, Sinas said 25 were in the hospital due to the severe symptoms while the other 414 who were asymptomatic were admitted to different quarantine facilities. (PNA)
