Gamboa says most cops infected with COVID-19 are those deployed at checkpoints

Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Police General Archie Francisco Gamboa on Monday said most of the COVID-19 infections among police officers came from those deployed at quarantine control points.

At a press briefing, Gamboa assured the public that the PNP has enough cops to implement quarantine protocols despite a total of 1,089 cops who are already infected with COVID-19.

"Halos lahat ng infection came from those who are manning the quarantine checkpoints. Second hindi mauubos ang pulis, marami kami and then there's always rotation," Gamboa said.

"Dito sa Crame, marami pang pulis dito. Kapag naubusan, we will deploy and we can afford to re-deploy our PNP personnel," he added.

Gamboa said most COVID-19 cases in the PNP are asymptomatic.

"Nevertheless, after mat-est, usual protocol kapag nag-positive ka mag-observe ka ng 14-day quarantine and then i-test ka ulit... I think twice and then kapag cleared ka pinaparest pa rin yata ng mga seven to ten days before you go back to duty," Gamboa said.

The PNP also recorded a total of 500 recoveries after 30 more patients recovered from the respiratory illness, while the death toll within the PNP remained at nine.

So far, there were 1,422 suspected COVID-19 cases and 670 probable cases in the police organization. — RSJ, GMA News