By Mar T. Supnad
CAMP BGEN OSCAR M FLORENDO, La Union – Police Regional Office 1 reported today, Oct. 22, that there are 123 new COVID-19 infections bringing to 2,319 the total number of personnel who were tested positive for the virus.
Police Colonel Jessiemyr N Protacio, Chief, Regional Health Service 1, reported that as of Oct. 21, active cases dropped to 12 with 111 recoveries and zero casualty.
The Administrative Support for COVID-19 Task Force (ASCOTF) Monitoring of the Regional Health Service 1 indicated that 98 percent of the active cases are asymptomatic while the remaining 2 percent is in mild condition.
While COVID-19 continuously escalate across the country, Police Regional Office 1 thru the Regional Heath Service 1 guarantees its capacity to provide healthcare support to PNP personnel who were infected with COVID-19.
At present, Police Regional Office 1 is maintaining isolation facilities with a total bed capacity of 122. Continuous engagement and coordination with the public health authorities are also conducted to ensure the extensive contact tracing, proper treatment, and isolation of infected PNP personnel in the region.
Police Brigadier Rodolfo S Azurin Jr., PRO1 Regional Director, said 49 percent of the PRO1’s caseload are assigned in the field.
“Our police take a higher degree of risk and exposure as they often come into contact with the public. They neither have immunity to the virus. But we remain complacent with our countermeasures and continue to update our working conditions under the New Normal Scheme,” PBGen Azurin said.
Meanwhile, recovered patients are undergoing series of medical screening as probable donors of convalescent plasma.
Convalescent plasma are plasma from patients who have already recovered from coronavirus disease 2019. According to researches, convalescent plasma might contain neutralizing antibodies that fight the virus. Giving convalescent plasma to patients currently fighting COVID-19 may help them recover.