By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

Five police officers assigned at the Police Station 4 in Bacolod City tested positive for coronavirus disease 2019, or COVID-19.

Police Station 4 commander, Police Captain Jun Ray Batadlan, revealed he and four of his men have fallen ill to the virus and even revealed that his wife also tested positive for the virus.

Batadlan believes they may have gotten the virus in the police station itself.

Because of this, the operations at Police Station 4 had been limited although Batadlan said their services will not be fully affected.

For the meantime, Batadlan said his deputy, Police Lt. Ricky Cayao, will take over while he and the four other cops go on quarantine.

Cayao for his part said they will continue accepting blotters and complaints, however, the complainants will only be accommodated outside of the station as a precautionary measure.

Fifty four other cops assigned under Police Station 4 had also been ordered to undergo reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction tests over the weekend.

The Bacolod City Emergency Operations Center had also implemented a two-week surveillance testing of all police officers in Bacolod City./DGB, WDJ