SUBIC BAY FREEPORT — The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) on Monday began checking for vaccination cards among persons entering the Subic Bay Freeport to prevent further transmission of Covid-19 in the area and maintain the health and safety of stakeholders in this vital economic zone.
SBMA Chairman and Administrator Wilma T. Eisma said this is just one of the stricter measures implemented by the Subic agency after the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) placed Olongapo City, along with Zambales, Bataan and 11 other areas in the country, under Alert Level 3 late last week.
Under the new SBMA guidelines, interzonal travel and intrazonal movement are allowed in Subic upon presentation of vaccination certificate showing completed doses. Meanwhile, unvaccinated persons would have to show negative RT-PCR test results taken with 24 hours prior to arrival in Subic, Eisma said.
Subic, which boasted of zero Covid-19 cases among its residents until Christmas day, had reported a total of 36 active cases just after the holidays.
“The rate of increase—36 cases in just two weeks—is quite alarming, so in consonance with IATF resolutions, we have put in place stricter border controls and prohibited certain activities that could further spread the virus,” Eisma said on Monday.
“I have ordered our law enforcement officers to be thorough in checking for vaccination cards at the gates because we cannot afford another lockdown that would curtail business and industry in Subic. We have to be strict because we have to keep the local economy running, too,” she added.
Eisma said the SBMA has considered interzonal travel as high risk because eight of the recent Covid-19 cases in the Freeport involved residents who reported travel to Metro Manila, while five said having visited other areas outside of the Freeport.
She added that monitoring by the SBMA Public Health and Safety Department showed that these 13 travelers had, in turn, transmitted the virus to 12 close contacts. Still two others were infected after receiving visitors from outside Subic.
Eisma said that aside from requiring vaccination cards at the gates, the SBMA also limited the access of some public areas only to fully-vaccinated individuals. These include venues for meetings and social events, amusement parks and recreation venues, visitor or tourist attractions, venues for in-person religious gatherings, as well as restaurants, and gyms and personal care shops, which should all take in customers at 30% of their indoor capacity and 50% for outdoors.
Unvaccinated persons, however, may be allowed in supermarkets and groceries where 30% maximum capacity should be maintained, and inside malls but “only for the purpose of accessing essential goods and services,” the SBMA chief said.
At the same time, the SBMA allowed 70% maximum capacity for public transportation; 30% indoor capacity for face-to-face classes in higher schools; and 60% on-site capacity for government offices.
Meanwhile, the SBMA prohibited the operation of karaoke bars, indoor entertainment venues, kid amusement places, and venues for contact sports except in bubble-type setup.
Eisma said the Subic agency will enforce other measures that will arrest the current surge of Covid-19 cases in the greater Subic Bay area while encouraging stakeholders to get vaccinated for either basic doses or booster shots.
“We intend to contain this upsurge with vaccines and sound science behind basic safety protocols like masking, handwashing and social distancing,” Eisma added.

LONDON – Britain on Saturday reported more than 10,000 new Omicron coronavirus variant cases as the new variant-related death toll rose to seven.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) confirmed an additional 10,059 cases of the new variant, three times as many as Friday and taking the total number detected to 24,968.
The country registered 90,418 coronavirus cases in the latest 24-hour period, the second time cases have been higher than 90,000, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 11,279,428, according to official figures released Saturday.
The country also reported a further 125 coronavirus-related deaths. The total number of coronavirus-related deaths in Britain now stands at 147,173, with 7,611 COVID-19 patients still in hospital.
The latest figures came as London mayor, Sadiq Khan, declared a “major incident” in the British capital following a “huge surge” in Covid-19 cases fueled by the fast-spreading Omicron coronavirus variant.
A major incident enables different public agencies to cooperate and coordinate more closely, but also acts as a warning that emergency services and hospitals are unable to guarantee their normal level of response due to unusual circumstances.
Khan said in the past 24 hours London had logged more than 26,000 new infections, the largest number since the coronavirus pandemic began.
Meanwhile, leaked minutes seen by the BBC of a meeting of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies said that without government intervention beyond the recently announced plan B measures, hospital admissions in England could reach “at least” 3,000 a day.
The Omicron coronavirus variant has been reported in 89 countries and the number of cases is doubling in 1.5 to three days in areas with community transmission, the World Health Organization (WHO) has said.
More than 89 percent of people aged 12 and over in Britain have had their first dose of vaccine and more than 81 percent have received both doses, according to the latest figures. More than 47 percent have received booster jabs, or the third dose of a coronavirus vaccine.
To bring life back to normal, countries such as Britain, China, Germany, Russia and the United States have been racing against time to roll out coronavirus vaccines. (Xinhua)