SUBIC BAY

Subic gets Covid-free, but SBMA urges keeping health protocols, getting vaxxed
Nov 10, 2021

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT —The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) announced that there is no longer any active Covid-19 case among residents and transient workers in the Subic Bay Freeport Zone, as well as employees of the Subic agency as of Monday.

This developed as five Subic residents and three SBMA employees who contracted Covid from October 18 to 21 were all declared as recovered by the SBMA Public Health and Safety Department (SBMA-PHSD) after quarantine and treatment.

“For the first time since July last year when Subic Freeport recorded the first positive cases, we can all breathe that much-needed sigh of relief,” said SBMA Chairman Wilma T. Eisma. “But still this does not mean we can already relax our guard against the virus,” she insisted.

“Remember that we are easing restrictions not because Covid-19 is gone, but because we have to sustain the economy, which has been badly affected by the pandemic,” she pointed out.

Eisma said that after Subic was placed by the government’s Inter-Agency Task Force on Alert Level 2 status, the SBMA relaxed entry to the Freeport and allowed children 14 years old and below to enjoy parks and other open spaces, as well as al fresco dining restaurants here. Seniors 65 years old and above are also allowed in malls, shops and other enclosed spaces when fully-vaccinated, she added.

However, she reminded Subic stakeholders and visitors not to get careless. “We cannot afford another surge,” Eisma said, urging everyone to wear mask, avoid crowded places, maintain physical distancing, and disinfect.

The latest SBMA announcement posted on Monday indicated that the last reported Covid case among Subic Freeport residents was on Oct. 20 and among transient workers and guests in the Freeport on Sept. 25. Meanwhile, the latest case among SBMA employees was recorded on Oct. 21.

The announcement also showed a total of 275 confirmed cases among Freeport residents, with 271 recoveries or 98.55% and four deaths (1.45%); and 128 confirmed cases among transients, with 124 recoveries (96.8%), one death and three relocated cases.

Meanwhile, cases among SBMA employees, which were actually counted in their respective places of residence but reported by SBMA for transparency, indicated 197 confirmed cases, with 190 recoveries (96.45%) and seven deaths (3.55%).

The SBMA chief also urged Subic residents and workers to get vaccinated in order to further reduce Covid-19 infections.

As of November 5, she said 93 percent of the 2,237 SBMA employees are already either fully vaccinated or had their first dose of Covid-19 vaccine, and only seven percent have yet to receive anti-Covid shots.

Eisma said the SBMA is now arranging with the Department of Health (DOH) to allow walk-ins under the DOH-SBMA vaccine rollout so that more Freeport residents and workers could be inoculated.

“Vaccination is our way out of this pandemic, but let us not be choosy about the vaccine brand,” Eisma reminded stakeholders here.

“As experts say, the best vaccine is the one you get into your arm, and we owe it to ourselves and our community to get vaccinated so that we can help protect each other, begin reviving our economy and start moving on under the new normal,” she added.

News 2021