The Tagbilaran City Police Station (TCPS) and City Traffic Management Office (CTMO) have been placed on lockdown after 13 personnel of both offices tested positive for COVID-19.

The lockdown started Thursday and will remain in place pending the results of follow-up testing and contact-tracing operations, said Dice Arcenal, spokesperson of the Tagbilaran Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF).

According to TCPS chief Lt. Col. Mary Peralta, one police officer initially tested positive on Tuesday prompting the City Health Office to conduct a Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) on all of the station’s personnel.

Six tested positive and were subjected to a Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) test which confirmed that all of them indeed contracted the disease based on results released on Thursday night.

“This was the order sa ating City Health Office that’s why the whole Tagbilaran City Police Station is under granular lockdown, nandito po lahat ang ating kapulisan excluding yung mga hindi direct contact ng mga nag-positive na personnel,” said Peralta, adding that only 11 policemen were not included in the office quarantine.

Following the lockdown, the TCPS scheduled the RT-PCR testing of all of its 118 employees including non-uniformed personnel on Saturday.

Peralta said that all transactions with the TCPS may be conducted at the Bohol Provincial Police Office headquarters in Camp Francisco Dagohoy in Tagbilaran City.

“I have already coordinated with our provincial director [Col. Joselito Clarito], and all services being offered by the city such as the police clearance and filing of blotter duon muna sa barracks,” she added.

Meanwhile, CTMO chief Tony Samante said six employees of the agency including himself have tested positive for COVID-19.

According to Samante only those who have been at their office were directed to undergo quarantine while those deployed in the field including their 60 traffic enforcers will continue to perform their duties.

“Wa ra silay apil kay wa ra man sila makasud sa among opisina, naa ra mana sila sa gawas mo time in ug time out,” said Samante.

Three traffic enforcers who were traced to have been close contacts of some of those who were infected were tested and yielded negative results, he added.

In its latest update, the Bohol IATF reported that there were 185 active COVID-19 cases in the entire province as of Friday afternoon.

Tagbilaran City accounted for 41 of the total cases, the highest among all localities in the province. (R. Tutas)