By HENRY EMPEÑO | February 11, 2022

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT — Just like the rest of the country, the Subic Bay Freeport Zone is now recording a downtrend in the number of active Covid-19 cases, with numbers plunging to zero on Feb. 9 after a steep spike in mid-January.

Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) Chairman and Administrator Wilma T. Eisma said that since Wednesday, there was not any new case of Covid-19 here for both Subic Freeport residents and transient workers, although two active cases remained among SBMA employees.

“This is a good sign. It looks like the Omicron surge has peaked last month, and that our vaccination program is really helping to arrest local infection,” Eisma said.

“Still, there is no reason to put our guards down. We must continue observing health protocols because this is the surest way out of the pandemic,” she added.

Data released by the SBMA on Feb. 9 showed that 39 residents of the Subic Bay Freeport, 14 transient workers, and 27 SBMA employees recently recovered from Covid-19 infection after quarantine and treatment, leading to the lowest case record in more than a month.

Said recovered residents tested positive between Jan. 19 and Feb. 1, while the recovered guest workers were infected between Jan. 23 and 31.

The SBMA employees also tested positive between Jan. 23 and 31. The SBMA continues to monitor cases among its employees and reports on them even when these properly fall under the care of local government units where the employees reside, Eisma explained.

Dr. Solomon Jacalne, who heads the SBMA Public Health and Safety Department (PHSD), said the surge in Covid-19 cases here was consistent with Department of Health (DOH) findings that community transmission of the highly-infectious Omicron variant began in the second week of January.

“According to the DOH, 80% of the cases now are caused by the Omicron variant,” Jacalne said. “Again, this was consistent with our monitoring reports that those infected in Subic either travelled outside of the Freeport, or had some visitors coming in during the holidays,” he added.

PHSD monitoring showed that active cases began rising here on Jan. 1 when six Freeport residents tested positive of the virus. By Jan. 9, 36 residents were infected, and by Jan. 18 a total of 78 active cases was recorded.

Among transient workers, meanwhile, the tally climbed from zero cases in Jan. 1, to nine cases on Jan. 9, and 17 cases on Jan. 18.

The cases began to taper off in the last week of January, dropping to only 27 active cases among residents as of Jan. 28. At the same time, there were just 11 active cases among transient workers, and six among SBMA employees.

The Subic infection figures dovetailed with national records which put the peak of infections on Jan. 17 when the seven-day average was at 34,735 cases. The latest seven-day national average recorded on Feb. 10 was 6,016.

The total confirmed Covid-19 cases in Subic now stand at 421 for residents, 175 for transients, and 233 for SBMA employees.

Meanwhile, total recoveries were at 417 for Freeport residents, 171 for transients, and 224 for SBMA employees. ~