OLONGAPO CITY—Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. And in the fight against a resurgent Covid-19 virus, government officials in Zambales and this city are boosting their arsenal with anything from granular lockdowns and containment zones, entry restrictions and barangay checkpoints, enforced antigen testing at the border, and yes, red flags to mark areas with case spikes.
Zambales Gov. Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. said the confirmation of Delta variant cases in the locality, as well as the surge of cases in three municipalities, prompted the provincial inter-agency task force (PIATF) to “escalate the quarantine classification of Zambales” to general community quarantine (GCQ) with heightened restrictions on August 21.
“Our medical team is already overwhelmed with the continuous Covid-19 infections in the province,” Ebdane said.
“With its constant mutations and its capacity to wreak significant political, economic and social upheaval, Covid-19 could be considered today as Public Enemy Number 1,” Ebdane said.
Tough choices
Zambales, which previously enjoyed relatively lax controls under a modified general community quarantine (MGCQ) classification, had reverted to restrictions that were lifted just a few months ago when infections were declining.
Today, curfew hours have been extended by three hours—from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. previously to 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. Persons below 15 years and over 65, as well as those with immunodeficiency, comorbidity or health risks, are pregnant, must remain home at all times, regardless of vaccination status.
Liquor ban is enforced provincewide, religious gatherings are limited to 10 percent of venue capacity, al fresco dining to 30 percent, and only immediate family members can join weddings, birthdays and funerals.
Hotels are open at 30 percent capacity, but services like dining and spa are disallowed, just like those at indoor entertainment venues—bars, cafés, karaoke joints, casinos and cockpits, even amusement centers and sports courts.
At the border, PIATF personnel inspect travel passes and Covid-19 test results, and enforce a “mandatory test upon entry” rule—a tough measure that initially earned public disapproval but soon gained “normalcy” in these abnormal times.
This border regulation required all workers residing in Zambales but working elsewhere, or those residing elsewhere but working in Zambales and crossing the Subic or Sta. Cruz town border daily, to take a rapid antigen test weekly, either at the border triage or their respective rural health units.
Travelers from areas under Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) or modified ECQ who stay in Zambales for more than 24 hours must submit negative results of reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests 48 hours prior to entry.
Barangays are authorized to make similar inspections where necessary, as the fight against Covid-19 reverted to the local level.
In cases where five or more positive cases are confirmed in an area, granular lockdowns are imposed in barangays.
Red markers
IN Olongapo City, which maintains a separate count of Covid-19 cases, a similar situation of Covid-19 surges and the emergence Delta variant cases prompted City Hall to “reestablish stricter quarantine protocols and restrict movement to minimize possible virus transmission.”
An order signed by Mayor Rolen Paulino Jr. on August 31 imposed curfew from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m., restricted the movement of persons below 15 years and over 65, enforced border control at the two major entry points in the city, and limited persons in public areas to just 30 percent of venue capacity.
Paulino also ordered granular lockdowns as necessary “to contain localized spikes in Covid-19 cases and prevent further increase and spread of the virus.”
Authorities also officially operationalized the red-flagging of areas with high Covid-19 cases, a practice introduced at Barangay New Kalalake last August when officials placed red flags at street corners to warn passers-by.
The city also prohibited leisure travel, and banned the entry of travelers from ECG, MECQ and GCQ areas except when accessing essential goods and services.
Returning residents from ECQ and MECQ zones are also required to present a letter of acceptance from the barangay of destination, and should quarantine for 14 days upon arrival.
Condition critical
MOST residents agree the tough measures are needed under the circumstances—when Covid-19 numbers are rising and when their own lives and those of their loved ones are at stake.
According to the Department of Health (DOH), there were already 4,785 confirmed Covid-19 cases in Olongapo as of September 1. Of these, 451 are active, 4,192 are recoveries and 143 are deaths.
In Zambales at the same date, records showed a total of 7,206 confirmed cases with 770 of them active, 6,221 recoveries, and 215 deaths.
While these figures were way lower than other areas in Central Luzon in the same period—Bulacan, for example, had 76,387 confirmed cases with 7,233 of them active, while Angeles City had a total of 11,665 with 853 active—the spiraling cases simply cannot be ignored.
Zambales Provincial Health Office (PHO) data showed daily new Covid-19 cases rising from zero last March 1 and single-digit numbers in early March to record numbers that brought the provincial hospital to critical admission level in recent months.
Thus, from a total of 175 active cases on March 31, the PHO counted 277 on April 30; 427 on May 31; 614 on June 30; 367 on July 31; and 928 on August 31.
Records also show the growing gap between the number of confirmed cases and those who recovered.
Daily new cases outpaced recoveries even more in August.
Full facilities
THE rising cases are straining the capacity of local hospitals and medical facilities. Two weeks ago, Baypointe Hospital and Medical Center, the only hospital in the Subic Freeport Zone that admits Covid cases from Olongapo City, Bataan and Zambales, accepted a medical tent from the Philippine Red Cross to augment its Covid-19 isolation and treatment capacity.
Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) Chairman and Administrator Wilma T. Eisma, who facilitated the Red Cross donation, said the medical tent is invaluable to the Subic Bay Freeport.
Dr. Erlinda Alconga, Baypointe’s infectious diseases expert, said more patients seek entry at the hospital because they have Covid pneumonia.
“Before, our bed capacity for Covid cases was only 29, but now we attend to about 40 to 50 patients at Baypointe,” Alconga said. At that time, Alconga said 68 patients were on the waiting list of those seeking admittance.
Last week, the government-owned James L. Gordon Memorial Hospital (JLGMH) in Olongapo City also erected its own tent outside, while the Zambales government said it will put up with the Department of Public Works and Highways a modular-structured hospital to increase local capacity.
At the same time, hospital officials said they would limit admissions of OB-Gyne and pediatric patients because many healthcare workers at JLGMH had tested positive for the virus.
SBMA recently suspended all face-to-face operations at its medical dispensary and satellite emergency unit at the Subic airport for lack of personnel.
SBMA’s Eisma said 13 frontline health workers of the agency had tested positive for Covid-19 and had to be on quarantine for 14 days.
Failures and foils
SO, where and how did Covid-19, the ultimate Public Enemy Number 1 in Zambales and elsewhere, gain an upper hand? And what could be done locally to win the war?
With local community transmission of the virus and the limited capacity of local medical facilities, experts say the battle has shifted back to local frontlines, particularly among individuals.
In a recent public appeal, the Olongapo City Medical Society (OCMS) implored residents to help fight Covid as a community, noting that city hospitals “are in full capacity and with long queues of patients still awaiting beds.”
The medical group then urged people to observe basic health protocols like wearing masks and face shields; washing hands and disinfecting surfaces; observing social distancing; and most of all, staying home except for essential trips.
Local officials also called on people to get vaccinated. In Zambales, the PHO has reported a total of 49,553 individuals having had their first dose; and 57,027, their second dose. In Olongapo, around 32,000 individuals, or 10 percent of the population, have been fully vaccinated, said Olongapo Vice Mayor Jong Cortez.
“Vaccination is the key,” noted Cortez in a reply to inquiry by the BusinessMirror. “The more the national government supplies vaccines to every LGU and we could administer it to our people, the sooner we can protect ourselves and restart the economy.”
He preached caution, though, on the revised target and program of so-called population protection by the national IATF—vaccinating 50 percent of the population instead of the original goal of 70 percent to achieve herd immunity. The latter goal, he stressed, is “the tried and tested benchmark in over 40 years of controlling pandemics.”
Cortez also said that public attitude on the pandemic is also important. “In the absence of vaccines, our safety and health is entirely dependent on the cooperation and discipline of everybody by following IATF health protocols and taking a positive mindset—that I am positive, you are positive, and everybody is positive,” he said.