By RUFFIE CRUZ

(March 19) — The province of Zambales remains free from the new coronavirus disease (Covid-19) despite the growing number of persons being monitored for possible infection, the Provincial Health Office (PHO) said in a report Thursday.

A total of 78 persons under investigation (PUI) have been recorded in 10 towns and one city in the province, with 66 under strict home quarantine and two admitted in local health facilities.

Meanwhile six have already been discharged after testing negative for possible Covid-19 infection.

The PHO report dated March 19 and posted on social media indicated 21 PUIs in the capital town of Iba; 14 in Palauig; 11 each in Subic and Botolan; 6 in Castillejos; 4 in Cabangan; 3 each in Candelaria, San Narciso, and San Antonio; and 2 in San Marcelino.

There were no PUIs reported in Sta. Cruz, Masinloc and San Felipe as of this writing.

However, Sta. Cruz posted the most number of persons under monitoring (PUMs), with a total of 1,028, and followed by Masinloc with 1,003.

The town with the least number of PUMs reported is San Felipe with 124.

In Olongapo City, three PUIs have been reported on Monday, with two testing negative already. Two separate cases were also reported in the Subic Bay Freeport Zone (SBFZ) on Wednesday, with initially report of one negative result.

On March 18, SBMA Chairman and Administrator Wilma T. Eisma confirmed a second PUI in the Subic Bay Freeport. She said the patient was currently admitted in an intensive care unit due to fever.

She identified the PUI as a 50-year old with travel history from Manila.

PUMs NOW TOTAL 5,584

So far, none of the PUIs in Zambales has tested positive, but the number of PUMs in the province is growing and has reached 5,584 as of Thursday, March 19 from a reported total of 3,856 on Tuesday, March 17.

Local government officials said the number of PUMs is rising because a lot of residents working in urban centers like Manila and Olongapo had returned to their hometowns to weather the Covid-19 outbreak.

In just two days, from march 17 to 19, the number of PUMs in Sta. Cruz increased from 772 to 1,028; in Candelaria, from 478 to 572; 692 in Masinloc to 1,003; 122 in Palauig to 177; 338 in Iba to 484; 159 in Botolan to 267; and 147 in Cabangan to 292.

In San Felipe, the 44 PUMs increased to 124; the 67 in San Narciso became 244; 321 in San Marcelino to 401; 485 in San Antonio to 648; 158 in Castillejos to 187; 73 in Subic town became 157; and the 271 in Olongapo became 356.

APPEAL 

In face of the dire situation, local officials had imposed curfew hours from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. and began issuing passes to be used by residents on errands like buying foodstuffs or medicine.

Establishments other than grocery stores and drugstores are closed. Public mass transportation is also suspended in the entire province and only frontline workers, particularly health workers are allowed to enter quarantine zones.

In the Subic Bay Freeport, Chairman Wilma Eisma called on residents to strictly observe home quarantine.

“I beg each and every one of you, please stay at home. Covid is highly contagious and can cause death,” Eisma said in a Facebook post.

“Between the hospitals at the Subic Bay Freeport and Olongapo City, we have only around 20 isolation rooms. The reality is we do not have enough resources to handle a contagion of any magnitude,” Eisma emphasized. – With updates by CARRIE T. ASPA

 

 

 

PHOTO:

Residents endure queuing in Brgy. Del Pilar, Castillejos, Zambales from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. on March 20, and without much regard for social distancing, in order to secure “one-time” passes from the barangay that they can use when going out to buy foodstuffs and medicine. The same scene is replicated in other barangays in the municipality, earing the ire of citizens and causing local officials to stop such distribution system at 9 a.m. – JUN DUMAGUING