MANILA – The Covid-19 situation at the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa City remains manageable, the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) said Thursday.
Inmates who tested positive in antigen tests are asymptomatic and isolated, said BuCor spokesperson Gabriel Chaclag, adding that they need more test kits.
"Our BuCor Health Service is confident they are handling well our Covid-19 situation. Medyo konti na lang kami sa (We are just lacking) rapid antigen (test kits) so we are again looking for partners who want to donate while we are on the process of procurement of additional rapid antigen test kits," he said.
Department of Justice data on April 14 showed 175 persons deprived of liberty (PDLs), 32 personnel, and 161 trainees tested positive in recent rapid tests.
"All are asymptomatic and more than a week na rin (already) isolated. They are tested weekly using rapid antigen and if negative, they go back to routine job or old places," Chaclag said.
"If they still have symptoms, they will do RT-PCR (reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction) tests,” he added.
Overall since March last year, BuCor has tallied 776 positive cases among personnel and PDLs. Thirty-two died and 14 are active cases based on confirmatory tests.
BuCor uses antigen tests on close contacts of a confirmed case.
Among those who tested positive in previous confirmatory tests, a PDL and one personnel are recuperating in a hospital.
"The rest, 12 active cases, are all personnel who are on self-quarantine since last week and recovering," Chaclag, also a Covid survivor, said. (PNA)
