Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 24) —The coronavirus-hit jail facility in Cebu City now has 147 cases of COVID-19.
Cebu City Mayor Edgar Labella in a statement on Friday reported 24 additional COVID-19 cases in the city, 20 of them are from the jail facility in Barangay Kalunasan.
It is not clear if they are inmates or jail staff. The four other new cases in Cebu City are residents of barangays Luz, Labangon, Guadalupe, and Mambaling.
Labella said the Health Department has collected at least 345 test samples from the city jail, and some of the results are still pending. The city government on Thursday reported that 114 inmates and 13 jail staff tested positive.
Aside from the Cebu City Jail, other detention and prison facilities in the country have reported coronavirus outbreaks, including the Quezon City Jail and the Correctional Institution for Women in Mandaluyong City. An inmate at the New Bilibid Prison was also diagnosed with the viral illness.
The Department of Justice has approved simpler rules and faster processing of requests for parole and executive clemency as authorities rush to decongest jails amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Earlier this month, 22 prisoners with underlying medical conditions filed a petition before the Supreme Court, seeking temporary freedom amid the threat of COVID-19.
Nationwide, the number of COVID-19 cases rose to 6,981 on Thursday with 462 deaths and 722 recoveries.
Stringer Dale Israel contributed to this report.
