By HENRY EMPEÑO | Masinloc, Zambales

DAYS after new coronavirus (Covid-19) infections spiralled into more than 200 cases at the coal plant here, Masinloc, which has become the Covid-19 epicenter in Zambales, mercifully began counting its blessings in the form of recoveries from the dreaded disease.

According to regular situation updates posted by local government officials, around half of those afflicted with Covid-19 following an outbreak early this month at the Masinloc Coal-Fired Thermal Power Plant in Barangay Bani have already recovered.

These consisted of 49 recoveries that were announced last Friday, 28 on Saturday, and 35 more on Monday.

The current recovery tally of 112 trailed by just one the number of active cases, which stood as 113 as of Monday, data from the Masinloc local government unit show.

The recoveries came as a huge relief to Masinloc residents who were shocked by the rising number of cases in the past few weeks.

“We thank God for the fact that they (patients) recovered so quickly,” said Olive Ebido-Gregorio, a government environment worker from Bani, who spoke to Business Mirror in an online interview.

Gregorio said the past days were harrowing to locals, as they watched “astronauts” (health workers in protective suits) came by with ambulances to take away patients.

“We were so worried because we didn’t know who might be infected next. We have close friends working in the plant,” Gregorio said.

She said that the residents who had relatives or friends that tested positive comforted and assisted each other, as their loved ones were placed in isolation facilities.

Meanwhile, government units and private donors distributed food packs and fresh food stuffs to the residents to help them cope during the lockdown. These include the office of Gov. Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. which gave away some 2,500 food packs to Bani residents on Aug. 26.

The outbreak had so far infected 100 coal plant workers from outside of Masinloc and 124 locals, 91 of whom are from Bani, where most local plant workers come from.

A total of 33 persons infected in Bani hailed from nine other villages in Masinloc, which also gave rise to fears that the virus transmission would spread to other barangays.

Because of the growing infection, Masinloc mayor Arsenia Lim ordered a lockdown that covered Bani and the neighboring Sitio Relocation in Barngay Taltal, which was so-named because this is where residents displaced by the construction of the coal plant relocated in the 1990’s.

The outbreak was traced to a welder from Muntinlupa City who tested positive of the Covid-19 virus on Aug. 9. Since then positive cases turned up at the coal plant in alarming numbers: five initially on Aug. 16, 15 more on Aug. 20, another 16 on Aug. 21, 99 new cases on Aug. 24 following mass testing the day before— until a total of 224 have been infected by August 30.

However, because of immediate isolation and treatment of the positive cases, recoveries soon began on Aug. 28, when the first group of patients was discharged by the Provincial Health Office (PHO) from the President Ramon Magsaysay Memorial Hospital in the capital town of Iba.

Zambales PHO head Dr. Noel Bueno said the first recoveries consisted of 43 males and six females, aged 23 to 55 years. The recovered patients were all in good health, he added.

As of now, Ebido said the Bani community is expecting to see more recoveries in the coming days, even as locals prepare for the situation at the plant to normalize.

And what do residents do to prepare for the new normal? “Pakhawon a lalaman pigaw kai maulamitan (Boost the body’s immunity so it can fight infection),” Gregorio said. ~

TOP PHOTO: ROAD CLOSED – The road leading to the Masinloc Coal-Fired Thermal Plant, epicenter of the raging Covid-19 infection in Masinloc, Zambales, is blocked off to outsiders after the municipal government declared a lockdown to arrest virus transmission (Photo by Brian Somintac)