THE Philippine National Police yesterday recorded its 43rd and 44th COVID-19 fatalities: a 53-year-old Lieutenant and a 48-year-old Staff Sergeant from the Police Regional Office 3.

The officer from the Zambales Police Provincial Office was intubated at the Bataan General Hospital last Friday due to difficulty in breathing. The following day, he suffered from respiratory arrest which was described as a condition that exists at any point a patient stops breathing or is ineffectively breathing. It often occurs at the same time as cardiac arrest, but not always, medical doctors said.

The officer who was already on non-duty status was declared dead due to COVID-19 and critical pneumonia.

On the other hand, the 44th fatality was a patrol officer from the Bulacan PPO who tested positive for the virus last Thursday and was isolated at the Baliwag Quarantine Facility.

On Friday, he was transferred to the Bulacan Infectious Control Center in Malolos City, Bulacan due to difficulty in breathing and was hooked to a mechanical ventilator.

Early yesterday morning, the cop passed away due to “Acute Respiratory Failure secondary to Severe Pneumonia, Underlying Cause Covid-19 Pneumonia.’

The two were the latest COVID-19 fatalities in the police force this past week. The 41st fatality was a 48-year-old Senior Staff Sergeant from the National Capital Region Police Office while the 42nd was a 64-year-old Non-Uniformed Personnel assigned at the PNP Directorate for Intelligence.

The police non-commissioned officer died in a hospital in San Jose del Monte City in Bulacan on Thursday, a day after he was brought to the facility after experiencing difficulty in breathing, with an unproductive cough and nursing a high fever.

Doctors tried but failed to revive him when his oxygen saturation level suddenly dropped shortly after noon Friday. He was found to have suffered from high-risk pneumonia with COVID-19 as the immediate cause of his death.

The 42nd fatality was admitted to a Caloocan hospital last April 6. He was diabetic and hypertensive. He also complained of difficulty in breathing.

He passed away on Friday due to community-acquired pneumonia high-risk, coronary artery disease and COVID-19.

PNP Deputy Chief for Administration and concurrent commander of the Administrative Support for Joint COVID-19 Task Force commander Lieutenant General Guillermo Lorenzo T. Eleazar said that as of Saturday, they have already recorded a total of 17,194 police personnel who have contracted the virus since March last year.

However, 14,751 of them have already fully recovered from the disease and are now back on duty.

The PNP Health Service headed by Brigadier Gen. Luisito P. Magnaye is also monitoring a total of 2,400 ‘active cases’ in the force with 223 new cases reported on Saturday, 33 of them late report and 4 described as ‘reinfection.’

Last Holy Week, three COVID-19 deaths were recorded by the PNP. All three were found to be COVID-19 positive and complained of difficulty in breathing.

The 39th fatality was described as a 53-year old male personnel of the MPD Traffic Enforcement Unit. The cop who was suffering from sore throat, cough and fever tested positive for the virus last March 10 and was admitted to a Manila hospital. He was also described as hypertensive and diabetic.

The 38th fatality was described as a male non-commissioned officer of the PNP Drug Enforcement Group who died while undergoing treatment at the Quezon City General Hospital due to acute respiratory distress secondary to COVID-19 infection.

The 37th fatality was a 45-year old member of the National Capital Region Police Officer who passed away on Saturday last week in a San Pedro City, Laguna hospital where he has been under confinement since last March 16.

PNP chief, General Debold M. Sinas said that more spaces in Camp Crame have been converted into temporary quarantine facilities for treatment of PNP personnel infected with the deadly COVID-19 virus.

The top cop and Eleazar also assured they are fully taking care of their personnel who have contracted the deadly germ.

Sinas explained that the entire compound of the 55-bed capacity Kiangan Billeting and Transient Quarters and their sports facilities have been reconfigured further into quarantine facilities for PNP COVID-19 patients.

The PNP chief said that the Kiangan Emergency Treatment Facility is currently the primary quarantine facility in Camp Crame for any COVID-19-positive cases.

Recently turned over by the PNP Directorate for Logistics headed by Major Gen. Angelito A. Casimiro were an additional 57 beds in the same compound covering the Camp Crame Tennis Court and 40 more beds at the Taekwondo gym. They now provide shelter for the asymptomatic patients, including those from the poolside, Magnaye said.

The PNP-HS director said that both symptomatic and asymptomatic cases are assigned to their respective quarantine facilities and individually transported by PNP ambulance to either the Philippine International Convention Center, Ultra, Nice Hotel or LGU facilities in the National Capital Region in in Clark in Angeles City in Pampanga.

Those with “symptomatic” cases are brought to the Camp Bagong Diwa and Southern Police District facilities of the National Capital Region Police Office.

Strict measures have been imposed inside Camp Crame and other police camps and headquarters nationwide to ensure the decrease of COVID-19 contamination, said Lt. Gen. Eleazar.