A 50-year-old Police Commissioned Officer on Thursday became the 56th COVID-19 fatality in the Philippine National Police amid the enhanced effort by the PNP to test and treat its personnel who have contracted the dreaded virus.

PNP chief, General Debold M. Sinas said that their latest fatality is a male Police Lieutenant assigned at the Regional Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit 4-A in Calabarzon region.

Based on a report from the PNP Health Service headed by Brigadier Gen. Luisito P. Magnaye, the officer was given his 1st dose of Sinovac vaccine last March 31 as he was among the 2nd priority personnel with co-morbidity.

A week after getting the vaccine, he experienced headache, sore throat, cough and difficulty of breathing and was tested positive for the virus when he was subjected to an RT-PCR test by the Regional Health Service 4-A.

Last April 15, the officer was admitted at the Intensive Care Unit of the Batangas Medical Center where doctors said that his oxygen saturation continued to plummet to a critical level as he was diagnosed with pneumonia.

Last Wednesday, the cop was scheduled for a Hemoperfusion, a method to filter blood outside the body to remove accumulated toxins. Immediately, his unit coordinated with various hospitals in Calabarzon and Metro Manila but no hospitals are currently admitting outside patients due to their full capacity. Instead, he was put on the waiting list for the said procedure.

On Thursday, the officer was declared dead by his attending physician.

“I would like to express my heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family. As front-liners every PNP personnel is risking their own safety. The least that we could do is to assure them that we would be there for them and their family to extend all the necessary support,” Sinas said.

As of Thursday, PNP Deputy Chief for Administration and concurrent commander of the Administrative Support for Joint COVID-9 Task Force, Lieutenant Gen. Guillermo Lorenzo T. Eleazar said they have recorded 147 new cases, bringing the total number of cases to 20,150 since March last year.

Eleazar said the PNP-HS is still monitoring 1,722 ‘active cases’ in the force. The official said that 198 recoveries were also recorded on the same day, bringing the total number of policemen who have recovered from the disease and are now back to full duty status since March last year to 18,372.

Last Sunday, a 39-year-old female Non-Uniformed Personnel of the PNP became the 55th COVID-19 fatality in the force, her death coming just hours after two uniformed officers succumbed to the killer virus on Saturday.

The 55th fatality was assigned at the PNP Directorate for Personnel and Records Management which has already recorded a total of 72 COVID-19 cases since March last year, six of them still described as ‘active cases.’

Sinas has reminded his men to double their protection against the virus.

“If you are not feeling well, immediately seek medical attention. Avail of the free consultation we are offering,” the PNP chief said.

Sinas also reiterated his call on his men to refrain from engaging in self-medication and self-imposed home quarantine. The PNP chief said that policemen with COVID-19 symptoms can be better taken care of at different PNP facilities like the Kiangan Emergency Treatment Facility.

He said that more spaces in Camp Crame have been converted into temporary quarantine facilities for treatment of PNP personnel infected with the deadly coronavirus.

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.

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.