By HENRY EMPEÑO | Iba, Zambales

WITH A LOT of cheering and well wishes from frontline workers and provincial government officials, nine survivors of the new coronavirus disease (Covid-19) and 120 suspect cases who finally tested negative marched out of the provincial hospital here on Sunday, May 17, all eager to go home.

Zambales Governor Hermogenes Ebdane Jr., who witnessed the emotional farewell that included a dance number by local policemen and health workers, said the event was “a joyful result of the efforts and sacrifices made by all frontliners to keep the community healthy and safe.”

“We know that there is already local transmission, but the recoveries show us that we can beat Covid-19 when we work together. This gives everybody hope and renewed strength,” he added.

Ebdane said the provincial health office initially sent out swab samples taken from Covid-19 patients at the President Ramon Magsaysay Memorial Hospital here to the Philippine Lung Center from April 19 to 30, but did not immediately receive any result. This prompted officials to send another batch of samples to the Philippine Red Cross on May 12.

Last Saturday, results of the first batch of tests for both suspect and confirmed cases came through, leading to the patients’ discharge the following day.

According to Provincial Health Officer Noel Bueno, those who had recovered included seven Zambales residents: two from Subic town, two from Botolan, and one each from San Marcelino, San Narciso, and Iba. The other two are reportedly front-liners from Baguio City and Nueva Ecija, respectively.

Bueno said the first of the nine recently recovered patients is a 37-year old male from Baguio (ZAM008), who was first declared positive on April 14. He tested negative on the third and fourth tests made on April 23 and May 11.

The second recovery is a 41 years old, male, from Cabanatuan (ZAM009). He tested positive in two previous tests taken April 8 and 14, but finally tested negative in his May 11 test.

Three other patients who underwent swabbing on April 12 and tested positive six days later, got negative results for their May 11 tests. They are a 62-year old male from Subic town (ZAM010); a 55-year old female also from Subic (ZAM011); and a 42-year old female from San Marcelino (ZAM012).

Meanwhile, two other recovered patients had their specimen samples taken on April 20, for which tests by the Lung Center of the Philippines yielded positive results on May 3. The May 11 tests, however, gave negative results for a 32-year old female patient from San Narciso (ZAM014) and a 55-year old male from Iba (ZAM015).

The last two recoveries were two females from Botolan town, one 56 years old (ZAM016) and another 62 years old (ZAM017). The first was asymptomatic while the second had cough. Both were reactive to rapid diagnostic test (RDT), and test results from the Lung Center of the Philippines also gave positive results. The latest test they had on May 11 finally classified them as negative.

All the nine recovered patients are in good health, Bueno added.

Alongside the discharge on Sunday of the nine recovered cases, the Zambales health office also allowed to go home 120 patients previously suspected of having been infected, but whose test results had also shown negative.

However, one suspect case turned out positive based on the recent test results, thus bringing the cumulative tally of confirmed Covid-19 infections in Zambales to 21.

Bueno said the latest case is a 69-year old male from Candelaria town, one of the four northernmost towns that did not have any confirmed Covid-19 case previously.

Zambales, which is composed of 13 municipalities, had transitioned from enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) to modified ECQ on Saturday, and had so far recorded a total 15 recovered patients and one death from Covid-19 infection.

Its component city, Olongapo, which had opted to ease down to general community quarantine, maintains a separate count and had so far reported 11 positive cases.