No need to implement lockdown in Crame: Gamboa

May 12, 2020

The chief of the Philippine National Police ( PNP) on Tuesday said there is no need to implement a lockdown in Camp Crame as majority of confirmed coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases among their personnel came from the National Capital Region.

In his virtual presser, Police General Archie Francisco Gamboa said they have 140 personnel positive of COVID-19, which he said is around 1.26 percent of the total number of confirmed cases in the country.

“Actually if we saw the 140 infected, majority came from NCR. Indeed, there was a lockdown (in Camp Karingal) because of high infection rate. Here in Camp Crame, there is no need for a lockdown because from the beginning, we started segregation,” Gamboa said.

He said cops assigned in Camp Crame, PNP’s national headquarters, who will be tested IgM (Immunoglobulin M) positive are segregated from other personnel for quarantine.

As of now, he said PNP has three quarantine facilities.

“We don’t have much infection in Crame that’s why it is not a necessity to have a lockdown,” Gamboa said.

The Quezon City Police District in Camp Karingal was placed under three-day lockdown from May 9-12 following the initial result of the targeted group testing conducted last April 25-29, 2020 where 14 personnel yielded positive results.

The National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) said they  have 47 confirmed positive cases.

Meanwhile, Gamboa said five of the PNP confirmed cases are admitted in medical facilities for treatment, 64 are in quarantine centers while 17 are under home quarantine.

“The good news is, the 35.7 percent recovery rate of PNP COVID-19 cases has been consistently well above the national average, while the mortality rate is kept at the barest minimum,” the PNP chief said.

To enhance PNP capability to keep all 205,000 personnel COVID-19 resilient, Gamboa said they sought the Department of Health (DOH) and World Health Organization (WHO) approval to develop and operate PNP's RT-PCR testing laboratory.

“Hopefully as soon as we are done with the proficiency test, as early as two weeks,” he said. Ella Dionisio/DMS