BALANGA CITY – A total of 120 Chinese workers at a coal power plant in Mariveles, Bataan have been hospitalized for dengue, Mayor Jocelyn Castaneda and provincial health officer Dr. Rosanna Buccahan said Tuesday.
Castaneda said the Chinese are workers at the GN Power Plant in Barangay Alas-Asin.
A staff of the community relations office of GN Power Plant said those hospitalized were part of about 400 Chinese working in the ongoing construction of an additional plant, mostly supervisors.
Castaneda said the municipal government immediately undertook cleaning and fogging operations in the compound of the coal plant.
The mayor said the 120 Chinese workers were among the 400 dengue cases with one death, a 7-year-old, recorded in Mariveles for the period January 1-August 2019.
“Sa totoo lang, maiiwasan naman talaga ang dengue kung ang paligid ay nililinis regularly. Considered very alarming ang dengue sa Mariveles kaya nag-order ako ng cleaning at fogging operations,” Castaneda said.
Dr. Rosanna Buccahan, provincial health officer, said the 120 Chinese workers hospitalized for dengue were included in their cumulative report from January 1 to August 15, 2019.
She said there were two dengue outbreaks in the compound of GN Power – on May, 2019 with 96 cases and on July, 2019 with 24 cases.
Buccahan said in cooperation with the municipal government of Mariveles, they conducted search and destroy operations, health information and fogging operation in three cycles at the coal plant compound.
“Karamihan sa mga Chinese workers magagaling na. Wala nang naka-confine,” the provincial health officer said.
She said all those suspected of having dengue were immediately brought to the Pampanga Medical Specialist Hospital (PMSH) in Pampanga.
“Walang serious. Lahat ng nagkakaroon ng sintomas ng dengue ay dinadala sa PMSH. Nag-case investigation kami sa nagkasakit na Chinese workers. Lahat ng 120 cases may pangalan. Nag-search and destroy kami sa area, naglinis at nag 3-cycle fogging operations,” Buccahan said.
She said that based on their investigation, the surroundings were “somewhat dirty” and the Chinese workers not particular with cleanliness even to their body due perhaps to exhaustion in their work.
Buccahan noted that both Filipino and Chinese workers have their own accommodations but in the Filipino quarters they saw no breeding places for mosquitoes and no Filipino workers got dengue.
“Itong mga Chinese upon investigation, hindi maayos ang kanilang accommodation. Nakakita kami ng mga stagnant water na pwedeng pagbahayan ng kiti-kiti na nagiging lamok. Pati pangangatawan siguro dahil sa pagod sa pagtatrabaho, siguro diretso nang matutulog ng naka- boxer shorts. Mga katawan nila expose sa lamok, hindi na siguro makapaglinis ng katawan dahil sa pagod,” she said.
“Batay sa vector surveillance upang malaman kung may lamok na nagdadala ng dengue sa lugar, nakita na may dalawang klase ng lamok na present sa compound ng GN Power. Ito ang Aedes Aegypti at Aedes Albopictus,” Buccahan said.
She said that as of January to August 15, 2019 report, there were 989 dengue cases in Bataan, 21 percent lower than last year’s 1,252 cases.
