ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines — Dozens of former Persons Deprived of Liberty—PDLs—are under a 14-day quarantine in a Zamboanga City hotel after local courts ordered them released amid a COVID-19 outbreak at the Zamboanga City Reformatory Center.
Jail Chief Inspector Nathanel Aljas, CRC warden, said the 60 PDLs undergoing quarantine are among the 235 ordered released pending verification by the courts.
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The released PDLs were swabbed and tested negative for COVID-19 before being sent to quarantine.
Meanwhile, the local inter-agency task force on COVID-19 said 14 more cases at the CRC have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the cases in the jail to 63.
The city has 74 confirmed cases.
Dr. Dulce Amor Miravite, City Health Office chief, said six of the 14 new cases are Bureau of Jail Management and Penology personnel and the remaining 8 are PDLs.
The test results for the new cases were from the newly activated gene expert test laboratory inside the Zamboanga City Medical Center that was established to speed up testing in the region.
The local IATF allayed apprehensions of Zamboanga City residents that the coronavirus disease might spread, saying the CRC has been contained.
The IATF and the Department of Health said there have been no new local community transmission in three weeks.