SUBIC BAY FREEPORT — A total of 24 crewmembers of ships operated by the government mapping agency National Mapping and Resource Information Authority (NAMRIA) have been infected with COVID-19 and transferred onshore to an isolation facility here.
According to the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA), which monitors COVID-19 cases in this free port, the infected crewmen came from the four NAMRIA vessels that are based in the Subic Bay Freeport.
SBMA Chairman and Administrator Wilma T. Eisma said the positive cases were shuttled by the SBMA COVID-19 team on Wednesday night to the Manila Times temporary treatment and monitoring facility (TTMF) at Subic’s Cubi area, which had just opened for operation that morning.
“We have taken every precaution to prevent further transmission among the crewmen, as well as personnel in the Port of Subic,” said SBMA Chairman and Administrator Wilma T. Eisma on Friday. “I’ve ordered a ‘gangway-up’ status for all the NAMRIA ships, which means that all the remaining crew would have to stay onboard and cannot come onshore except for emergency.”
She added that SBMA health officials, as well as port authorities, have already completed contact tracing and put in place safeguards to ensure the observance of COVID-19 protocols and other health safety measures imposed in Subic.
“The vessel commanders have been very cooperative thus far—with the SBMA, as well as the Bureau of Quarantine and the Philippine Coast Guard, so we’re positive that this health issue would be resolved soon,” Eisma also said.
According to Dr. Solomon Jacalne, head of the SBMA Public Health and Safety Department, a total of 18 crewmembers of BRP Hydrographer Presbiterio had contracted COVID-19. Meanwhile, four other positive cases were recorded aboard BRP Hydrographer Hizon, one on BRP Hydrographer Palma, and another on BRP Hydrographer Ventura.
The NAMRIA, which is under the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, provides mapmaking services and acts as the government’s central mapping agency. It started basing its vessels here in 2015 after BRPH Hizon and BRPH Palma were commissioned here on June 1 that year.
Jacalne said the infection among NAMRIA crewmen was traced to a crewman of BRP Ventura who returned for duty on April 5 after some time off in Antipolo City. Antipolo, along with other areas in the so-called “NCR Plus bubble,” is still under the modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) status.
Jacalne added that on April 8, said crewmember underwent a reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test and came out positive, prompting the lockdown of all vessels for quarantine even as the ship crew did not show any COVID-19 symptoms.
When one crewmember developed hypertension on April 12, he was brought to a hospital here and RT-PCR testing was required, and a saliva RT-PCR was then approved for the crew.
Jacalne said that subsequent results on April 13 showed that out of the 75 crewmen, 22 were positive. Another positive case came up on April 15 from the two pending results of the April 12 saliva test.
It might be recalled that a crewmember of BRPH Palma became the first COVID-19 case recorded in the Subic Freeport at the onset of the pandemic last year. Said crewman tested positive on March 29, 2020 after visiting Mindoro on March 6 and falling ill upon his return to Subic three days later.