A POLICE captain from the Bulacan Police Provincial Office yesterday was recorded as the 52nd COVID-19 fatality in the Philippine National Police.

The 50-year-old commissioned officer died while undergoing treatment in a Valenzuela City hospital on Tuesday night. His death was diagnosed to be the result of acute respiratory syndrome secondary to severe pneumonia with COVID-19 as an underlying cause.

The officer tested positive for COVID-19 when subjected to an RT-PCR test after he was pronounced dead, said PNP Health Service director Brigadier General Luisito P. Magnaye.

The victim became the latest officer to succumb to the killer virus since March last year, with the highest-ranking of them the late Brig. Gen. Jonathan P. Ureta, a member of PNP Academy Class 1989 who used to be the director of the PNP EOD/K-9 Group.

Two other police non-commissioned officers also succumbed to the virus since last week making them the 50th and 51st PNP COVID-19 death since last year.

The 50th fatality was described as a 49-year-old Police Executive Master Sergeant assigned at the Sarangani Police Provincial Office under the Police Regional Office 12. The cop passed away last April 14 while undergoing treatment at the Socsargen County Hospital in General Santos City.

The 51st was a 38-year-old Staff Sergeant assigned at the Sadanga Municipal Police Station in Benguet under the Cordillera Police Regional Office. The cop died last Saturday at the Luis Hora Memorial Regional Hospital in Bauko, Mountain Province.

The patient was hospitalized after showing symptoms of the virus: diarrhea, cough and difficult breathing. He tested positive for the virus and was intubated and hooked to a mechanical ventilator.

Around 4:50 p.m. last Saturday, a doctor declared him dead due to acute respiratory failure and severe COVID-19.

PNP Deputy Chief for Administration and concurrent commander of the Administrative Support for Joint Task Force COVID-19 Lieutenant Gen. Guillermo Lorenzo T. Eleazar said that as Wednesday, they have already recorded a total of 19,105 PNP personnel who have contracted the virus since March last year.

However, 16,931 of them have already fully recovered from the disease and are now back in full duty status. He said that the PNP-HS reported 156 new recoveries the other dya.

Lt. Gen. Eleazar said that the PNP-HS is also monitoring 2,123 ‘active cases’ as of press time.

PNP chief, General Debold M. Sinas has called on his men to continue practicing minimum health protocols and avoid self-medication.