By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office (NOCPPO) director, Police Colonel Romy I. Palgue, along with 50 police officers have tested negative for the coronavirus disease 2019, or COVID-19, based on the results of the swab tests released on Thursday, January 28.

NOCPPO spokesperson, Police Lt. Abegael Donasco, said all police chiefs in the province were immediately directed to undergo swab tests while on self-isolation after they were exposed to a COVID-19 positive case while attending an Anti-Drug Abuse Summit in Bacolod City on January 22.

“The police officers had no direct contact with the infected patient,” she said.

The COVID-19 positive case is a female official of the Department of Interior and Local Government Unit from Iloilo.

Earlier, Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson also tested negative for COVID-19 and subsequently returned to work on Thursday after going on isolation./DGB, WDJ