By RUFFIE CRUZ | Iba, Zambales 

While seniors are held to be the most vulnerable to infection by the new coronavirus (Covid-19), two senior citizens in Zambales and Olongapo City just proved that they can overcome the dreaded disease. And two others are, hopefully, on the way to recovery, too.

According to Zambales Provincial Health Office (ZPHO) chief Dr. Noel C. Bueno, swab samples taken from a 73-year old male patient from San Antonio town on April 3 and April 9—his second and third tests— already yielded negative results.

The retired U.S. military man was the first Covid-19 positive in the Zambales. He tested positive on March 26 after recent travel from Cavite to Manila.

Bueno said the patient was on strict home quarantine and monitoring since March 17 in close supervision by the Barangay Health Emergency Response Team, which implemented treatment protocols approved by the Department of Health.

On April 9, meanwhile, Olongapo Task Force Covid-19 also announced a recovered patient. This was a 75-year-old Filipino male who was confined since March 16 at the ACE Medical Center-Baypointe Hospital in the Subic Bay Freeport.

Baypointe sources said the patient has been sent home on Good Friday, April 10, after receiving negative results for his final tests two days before.

As the survivor was exiting the emergency room on Friday, the hospital’s Covid-19 medical staff cheered him on with colorful balloons and greeting cards that read: “Thank God! You have won the fight!”

Dr. Kristeen Garcia, a resident doctor at Baypointe, when asked by Headline Zambales for reaction, said: “Praise the Lord. This is all I can say for now.”

“I hope we hear more recoveries in the coming weeks. I also pray for protection for our nurses and my fellow doctors,” Garcia added.

At the President Ramon Magsaysay Memorial Hospital (PRMMH), which has been designated by Gov. Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. as exclusive facility for treating Covid-19 patients in the province, two more elderly PUIs are showing signs of coping with Covid-19.

According to Dr. Bueno, swab tests from a 62-year-old Singaporean from San Marcelino, who was the fourth confirmed Covid-19 case in Zambales, have also yielded negative results on April 4.

The patient, who is a pastor of an evangelical church in Barangay Rabanes, was admitted at the PRMMH after developing symptoms 12 days after arriving from travel in Singapore and Japan.

Bueno said the patient is now awaiting the results of his second test. His third swab test was taken last April 9.

Bueno also announced on Friday, April 10, that a 62-year old PUM in Palauig has tested negative according to test results released that day.

As of April 10, the Zambales PHO report on Covid-19 showed seven confirmed cases in the province, along with 311 persons under investigation (PUIs); 1,504 persons under monitoring (PUMs) and undergoing quarantine; and 12,750 PUMs having completed the mandatory 14-day quarantine.

Olongapo, meanwhile, reported four confirmed cases, 142 PUIs, 215 local PUMs, and 1,207 PUMs and PUIs who have completed quarantine as of April 9. — With a report from Henry Empeño