Philippines: COVID-19 cases among police top 8,000

JAKARTA, Indonesia

More than 8,000 police officers in the Philippines have tested positive for the novel coronavirus since the outbreak in the country began, local media reported Friday.

In a statement, the Philippine National Police reportedly said it had reported 8,008 COVID-19 cases among its ranks as of 6.00 p.m. (1000GMT) Thursday, according to the Philstar daily.

Of these, 7,601 have recovered, while 381 died from the disease, it said.

The latest update put active cases at 381, added the statement.

Last month, police opened the second testing laboratory for COVID-19 in their dedicated general hospital, with plans for it to be able to test 150 officers per day, according to the report.

Meanwhile, the country has reported a total of 424,297 virus cases so far, including 387,266 that have since recovered, while the death toll reached 8,242, according to the Department of Health.

*Writing by Rhany Chairunissa Rufinaldo with Anadolu Agency's Indonesian-language service in Jakarta