Three newly remitted inmates in the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP)-Iloilo District Jail (IDJ) in Barangay Nanga, Pototan, Iloilo have been infected with the coronavirus disease 2019, or COVID-19.

According to BJMP Deputy Regional Director of Administration, Jail Senior Superintendent Gilbert Peremne, the three inmates, who are asymptomatic, are now undergoing quarantine at the Panay Isolation Facility C.

Peremne said these inmates were remitted to IDJ on January 8. They underwent reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction tests on January 13, which yielded positive results the next day.

“It is our procedure that before a certain inmate will be remitted in a jail facility, he/she will undergo a 25-day quarantine in our isolation center in Nanga, Pototan and they will undergo COVID test. So, these three inmates will undergo 25-day quarantine and maybe after one week they will again undergo COVID test until they finish their quarantine period,” Peremne said.

On the other hand, Peremne said that as of now jail visiting remains suspended, adding jail wardens across the region were ordered not to accept visitors or “dalaw.”

“Visitors are still not allowed to visits their loved ones because we still have cases and we fear that our inmates and personnel will be infected. Anyway, they can use computers and cellular phones for video calls. We provided them gadgets to communicate with their family,” Peremne added./WDJ