COVID-19 isolation facility outside of the Quezon City Jail in Payatas. Handout
MANILA- Twenty-one prisoners were isolated, the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) said Monday, as it sought to keep prisons under its care free of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
The said prisoners were already tested for COVID-19 and are just waiting for the results, BJMP spokesperson Jail Chief Inspector Xavier Solda said in a virtual press briefing.
"Mayroon po tayong mga binabantayan na PDL (persons deprived of liberty) natin mayroon po tayong 21 na nasa isolation, napa-swab na po natin sila, inaantay na lamang po natin ang resulta," he said.
(We are monitoring PDLs. We have 21 who were isolated and are waiting for their COVID-19 test results.)
As of Monday morning, Solda said there have been no confirmed cases of COVID-19 among prisoners.
"Zero COVID case po tayo among our PDLs," he said.
Last week, the BJMP started operating its first COVID-19 isolation center as a precautionary measure following suspicions that an inmate's death was caused by the virus.
The BJMP had said that the detainee died from heart ailment and hypertension, but that his death certificate also indicated that "other conditions contributing to his death is possible COVID-19 infection."