Wednesday, March 22, 2023
manilastandard.net
ADVERTISEMENT
  • About
  • News
    • Top Stories
    • National
    • World News
    • Pinoy Abroad
    • Features
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Columns
    • Soundbytes
  • LGUs
    • NCR
    • Luzon
    • Visayas
    • Mindanao
  • Business
    • Corporate
    • Economy & Trade
    • Stocks
    • Money
    • Agri & Mining
    • Power & Tech
    • IT & Telecom
  • Sports
    • Basketball
    • Volleyball
    • Fightsports
    • Active
    • Sports Plus
    • One Championship
    • Columns
  • Entertainment
    • TV & Movies
    • Celebrity Profiles
    • Music & Concerts
    • Digital Media
    • Columns
  • Lifestyle
    • Food
    • Culture & Media
    • Fashion
    • Health and Home
    • Leisure
    • Shopping
    • Columns
  • Others
    • Pets
    • Pop.Life
      • Newsmakers
      • Hangouts
      • A-Pop
      • Post Its
      • Performances
      • Malls & Bazaars
      • Hobbies & Collections
    • Technology
      • Gadgets
      • Computers
      • Business
      • Tech Plus
    • MS ON THE ROAD
      • Sedan
      • SUV
      • Truck
      • Bike
      • Accessories
      • Motoring Plus
      • Commuter’s Corner
    • Home & Design
      • Residential
      • Commercial
      • Construction
      • Interior
    • Spotlight
    • Gallery
      • Photos
      • Videos
    • Events
      • Seminars
      • Exhibits
      • Community
    • Biyahero
      • Travel Features
      • Travel Reels
      • Travel Logs
  • Advertise with Us
No Result
View All Result
  • About
  • News
    • Top Stories
    • National
    • World News
    • Pinoy Abroad
    • Features
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Columns
    • Soundbytes
  • LGUs
    • NCR
    • Luzon
    • Visayas
    • Mindanao
  • Business
    • Corporate
    • Economy & Trade
    • Stocks
    • Money
    • Agri & Mining
    • Power & Tech
    • IT & Telecom
  • Sports
    • Basketball
    • Volleyball
    • Fightsports
    • Active
    • Sports Plus
    • One Championship
    • Columns
  • Entertainment
    • TV & Movies
    • Celebrity Profiles
    • Music & Concerts
    • Digital Media
    • Columns
  • Lifestyle
    • Food
    • Culture & Media
    • Fashion
    • Health and Home
    • Leisure
    • Shopping
    • Columns
  • Others
    • Pets
    • Pop.Life
      • Newsmakers
      • Hangouts
      • A-Pop
      • Post Its
      • Performances
      • Malls & Bazaars
      • Hobbies & Collections
    • Technology
      • Gadgets
      • Computers
      • Business
      • Tech Plus
    • MS ON THE ROAD
      • Sedan
      • SUV
      • Truck
      • Bike
      • Accessories
      • Motoring Plus
      • Commuter’s Corner
    • Home & Design
      • Residential
      • Commercial
      • Construction
      • Interior
    • Spotlight
    • Gallery
      • Photos
      • Videos
    • Events
      • Seminars
      • Exhibits
      • Community
    • Biyahero
      • Travel Features
      • Travel Reels
      • Travel Logs
  • Advertise with Us
No Result
View All Result
manilastandard.net
No Result
View All Result
Home Opinion Columns

COVID hits home

Adelle ChuabyAdelle Chua
January 15, 2022, 12:00 am
in Columns, Long Story Short by Adelle Chua, Opinion
Reading Time: 5 mins read
A A
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on Email

“Just try to make it today, and tomorrow will be another battle.”

Like many, I thought of COVID-19 as something that happened to other people. I read and wrote about it, but always in the context of it happening to others. I often attached it to other issues like health or social justice or governance. COVID was a subject.

I tried not to get news of the virus get me down or make me anxious. I learned to “unplug” from time to time. Meanwhile, we at my household tried to balance fear with reasonability, making decisions and taking calculated risks whenever we had to (or wanted to) go out. Just recently, I suggested we should go for the family goal of not ever catching COVID-19.

But the virus caught up with us, as it did with many other families.

Three of my four kids tested positive. I myself developed a cough despite testing negative twice. As of this writing, the ordeal is not yet over.

My two boys are still isolating with their older sister and her partner who also tested positive. Meanwhile, my other daughter and I are holed up at my apartment, taking care of the logistics like deliveries, food, medicine and other needs. It’s good that our units are in the same building albeit on different floors. A small wooden table at their door serves as our link.

ADVERTISEMENT

I’ve had a chance to enumerate my takeaways from the past few days and I’d like to share them here.

First, it is good to imagine scenarios. The phrase “Ano ang gagawin natin kapag (What will we do if)….?” helped us immensely. It allowed us to anticipate different situations and, like a flowchart, manage developments. Often, if we are faced with an emergency, we cannot think clearly. It helps to know exactly what to do just in case A or B comes up. It lessens your sense of helplessness, and increases the likelihood of your making prudent decisions.

Second, find your distraction. People have come up with many ways to cope with the uncertainty of the past two years. But when COVID barges into your home, you have to have something to take your mind away from the constant unsettling feeling. Catch up on your reading, watch movies or plays or shows, play an instrument. Tidy up or clean. Create something. Work – our jobs are sometimes a blessing that way.

Third, accept the fact that there are some things you can’t really know for certain. For instance, how, when and where did the COVID transmission happen? Why is Person A sick and why has Person B remained healthy despite being both close contacts of the same person? What lies ahead? When will all this end?

Fourth, it is really easier to live with the idea of contracting the virus than of passing it on to someone. This is the basis of all our actions, and why we must isolate if we have symptoms even without the benefit of testing. We might be healthy and suffer only minor symptoms, but the next fellow may not be as lucky. This is basic courtesy and consideration – basic humanity, actually.

Fifth, everyone in the family has a role to play. If the cases are mild, chances are, your patients will also be looking for ways to get their minds off their situation. So delegate – if they can’t get out of the house, at least they can help source items or make online purchases. Keep track of expenses in a common file on Google Drive. Make grocery lists, plan meals and schedule medicine intakes. Anything to lessen the variables.

Sixth, realize that times may be hard, but these will not last forever. In a week or two, things are bound to improve – not just your patients’ symptoms, but your general outlook. Just try to make it today, and tomorrow will be another battle.

Seventh, we can really make technology serve us. For example, even though the family cannot yet eat meals together like you used to, video calls can help recreate the feeling of eating together. Depending on the quality of your internet connection, you can still see each other and tell stories while eating. This was how my son and I got into a discussion on whether it was “appropriate” for a woman to send drinks to a man in a bar (guess which position I took). FaceTime is not quite the same as actual face time, but it’s a reasonable substitute.

Eighth, humor will save you. Don’t discount the power of a laugh over a silly episode – even if it means laughing at yourself. I was stumped when I ordered bananas from the supermarket and got puso ng saging instead. Or when I was presented with a plastic doll (arms akimbo and with a crumpled face) that looked like me when I am stressed.

Ninth, continue to count your blessings. You have work piling up? That’s good – you can still work from home. You’re still able to communicate with your loved ones. Nobody is in the hospital when this same virus that they have has killed tens of thousands already in the past two years. Be thankful you are just bored – it means you have the capacity and desire for doing more.

Finally, be reminded that other people are going through the same ordeal without the conveniences you enjoy. They cannot isolate in comfort as you can. For millions, isolation means not working and not having money for food.

And then you will realize why you have to speak up when you see something wrong, why you have to rail against injustice and incompetence and corruption, and why you have to vote and vote wisely in May.

While we isolate, or quarantine as the case may be, let us take the opportunity to be silent and clear not just the clutter in our homes but that in our minds. It’s a tough opening for the year, sure, but it’s only the first month. We cannot control everything that happens to us, but we can control how we respond to our challenges and decrease the likelihood of their affecting us adversely.

Just because we are told that at least half of the population will get COVID does not mean we should drop the fight. Let us take even greater care to keep ourselves healthy so that we may be able to take care of those who truly need our help.

adellechua@gmail.com

Tags: CorruptionCOVID-19Quarantine
ADVERTISEMENT
Adelle Chua

Adelle Chua

Related Posts

The wheels of justice on Degamo’s slay

byManila Standard
March 22, 2023, 12:15 am
0
8
The wheels of justice on Degamo’s slay

Looks like the wheels of justice are grinding well on schedule in the March 4 killing of Negros Oriental Governor...

Read more

Upholding the rule of law

byErnesto M. Hilario
March 22, 2023, 12:10 am
0
8
Denying Villafuerte justice

"Prosecuting the mastermind(s) and the actual perpetrators in the brazen assassination of Governor Degamo will send strong message that the...

Read more

Commitment to the legal system

byAmbassador Albert Del Rosario
March 22, 2023, 12:05 am
0
8
RSA: Mr. Malasakit, the environmentalist

"At this somewhat late stage in our life, we shall remain steadfast in our commitment to the Rule of Law...

Read more

Dreaming the impossible: The 1.5C climate target

byAFP
March 22, 2023, 12:00 am
0
8
Southwoods nails Seniors’ Fil golf crown

"The backstory of the 1.5C goal reveals an interplay of science and politics, with one driving and shaping the other"...

Read more

Many eyes on Moscow

byManila Standard
March 21, 2023, 12:15 am
0
8
Many eyes on Moscow

Evidently, many eyes will be on the Russian capital this week as Chinese leader Xi Jinping and the internationally isolated...

Read more

Why Duterte’s war on illegal drugs a big failure

byEmil Jurado
March 21, 2023, 12:10 am
0
8
Denying Villafuerte justice

"To contain the oil spill we must seek help from international sources, like Japan, South Korea and even the United...

Read more

Print Edition

View More

Recent Posts

  • The progressive congresswomen of CALABARZON, Bicol
  • Women leaders of Regions 4-A and Bicol: Making waves in Philippine politics
  • Congress Heads
  • House panel acts vs. Teves
  • Rufus rejects ‘secret’ meet on ‘Cha-cha’
  • Japan’s deep sea device spots tanker 400 meters deep off Mindoro
  • US, PH blast China ‘grey zone’ ops in SCS ‘impeding’ fishermen’s rights
  • One-strike policy for ‘ninja cops’ a must—Speaker

Advertisement

Latest News

Japan’s deep sea device spots tanker 400 meters deep off Mindoro

byCharles Dantesand4 others
March 22, 2023, 1:05 am
0
8
PAGASA heralds end of ‘amihan’, dry season start

The MT Princess Empress, which sank three weeks ago with its cargo of 800,000 liters of industrial fuel oil, has...

Read more

US, PH blast China ‘grey zone’ ops in SCS ‘impeding’ fishermen’s rights

byRey E. Requejoand1 others
March 22, 2023, 1:00 am
0
8
Southwoods nails Seniors’ Fil golf crown

THE defense secretaries of the United States and the Philippines jointly denounced China’s “gray-zone” operations—activities that just fall short of...

Read more

One-strike policy for ‘ninja cops’ a must—Speaker

byMaricel Cruz
March 22, 2023, 12:55 am
0
8
PNP vows deep probe into acts of ‘party girl’

Speaker Martin G. Romualdez on Tuesday urged the Philippine National Police (PNP) to strictly enforce a one-strike policy against “ninja...

Read more

PBBM: Study LGU devolution further

byVince Lopez
March 22, 2023, 12:50 am
0
8
UP nears 2nd straight UAAP hoops crown

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ordered government agencies to study Executive Order No. 138 for possible amendments and to determine what...

Read more

Bill lets married women keep own surnames

byMaricel Cruz
March 22, 2023, 12:40 am
0
8
Southwoods nails Seniors’ Fil golf crown

The House of Representatives on Tuesday approved on final reading a bill that will allow married women to retain their...

Read more

Advertisement

ADVERTISEMENT
Facebook Twitter Instagram Youtube

ABOUT US

Manila Standard

Manila Standard website (manilastandard.net), launched in August 2002, extends the newspaper’s reach beyond its traditional readers and makes its brand of Philippine news and opinion available to a much wider and geographically diverse readership here and overseas.

Digital Edition

In tone and content, the online edition mirrors the editorial thrust of the newspaper. While hewing to the traditional precepts of fairness and objectivity, MS believes the news of the day need not be staid, overly long or dry. Stories are succinct, readable and written in a lively style that has become a hallmark of the newspaper.

Download – Today’s Paper

Search

No Result
View All Result

6th Floor Universal Re Bldg., 106 Paseo De Roxas cor. Perea Street, Legaspi Village, 1226 Makati City Philippines

Trunklines: 832-5554, 832-5556, 832-5558

© 2021 Manila Standard - Designed and Developed by Neitiviti Studios.

No Result
View All Result
  • About
  • News
    • Top Stories
    • National
    • World News
    • Pinoy Abroad
    • Features
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Columns
    • Soundbytes
  • LGUs
    • NCR
    • Luzon
    • Visayas
    • Mindanao
  • Business
    • Corporate
    • Economy & Trade
    • Stocks
    • Money
    • Agri & Mining
    • Power & Tech
    • IT & Telecom
  • Sports
    • Basketball
    • Volleyball
    • Fightsports
    • Active
    • Sports Plus
    • One Championship
    • Columns
  • Entertainment
    • TV & Movies
    • Celebrity Profiles
    • Music & Concerts
    • Digital Media
    • Columns
  • Lifestyle
    • Food
    • Culture & Media
    • Fashion
    • Health and Home
    • Leisure
    • Shopping
    • Columns
  • Pop.Life
    • Newsmakers
    • Hangouts
    • A-Pop
    • Post Its
    • Performances
    • Malls & Bazaars
    • Hobbies & Collections
  • Technology
    • Gadgets
    • Computers
    • Business
    • Tech Plus
  • MS ON THE ROAD
    • Sedan
    • SUV
    • Truck
    • Bike
    • Accessories
    • Motoring Plus
    • Commuter’s Corner
  • Home & Design
    • Residential
    • Commercial
    • Construction
    • Interior
  • Spotlight
  • Gallery
    • Photos
    • Videos
  • Events
    • Seminars
    • Exhibits
    • Community
  • Biyahero
    • Travel Features
    • Travel Reels
    • Travel Logs
  • Pets
  • Advertise with Us

© 2021 Manila Standard - Designed and Developed by Neitiviti Studios.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Install Manila Standard Web App

Install App