"We should stop mingling for now."
"We should stop mingling for now."
We are now facing the most serious threat to the well-being of our nation and it is important that we all realize this so that we can all contribute to the solution instead making it more difficult. It is certainly the most serious challenge to this government and it is right in saying that we are in a fight for our lives.
Let us all hope that the country will be able to live through this crisis with the minimum loss of life. The government measure of locking down or quarantining the whole of the island of Luzon containing about 56 million people may be drastic to many, but it is the most effective way of containing the spread of the virus no matter how painful it will be.
One of the best ways to let the virus die out is for people to stop mingling with each other so that those infected will not infect others. Very recent studies have indicated that about 79 percent of the infections are coming from people who are not exhibiting any symptoms even though they do have the virus.
The lockdown will of course cause temporary hardships to our working people but this is better than the disease decimating all of us. The DOH has already described the spread as sustained so we cannot afford to underestimate the threat of the disease considering that there is still no cure or vaccine for it.
The whole idea of the lockdown, as Secretary Eduardo Ano reiterated, is to keep people from going out of their homes. This may be hard for many at first but absolutely necessary. What we call social distancing will eventually defeat COVID-19 but it needs the cooperation of everyone. The sight however, of so many people congregating in those checkpoints trying to get clearances to be able to proceed to their destinations during the first day of the lockdown defeats the very purpose of social distancing. The system obviously needs improvement, which seems to have happened on the second day when public transportation ground to a complete halt.
The improvement may also be because the government decided to implement a complete lockdown, removing many of the exemptions which should be the case. The national government should also consider designating the barangays—they are the front liners when it comes to people movement. Since the barangays know everyone in the community, people should be able to report to them their problems and what they need. It will be the barangay officials who will coordinate with higher authorities. That way, it will be orderly and less chaotic.
People who have no more money to buy food or people who get sick could also report these to the barangay. We already wasted a few days in this lockdown and we only have about 23 days remaining. The question is whether this will be enough to contain the sustained spread of the virus or whether an extension of a few days will be needed. Let us hope that it is enough.
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A lot has been said about the importance of social distancing; too little, however, has been said on social responsibility or duties.
The resistance by some citizens could perhaps be lessened if they are more aware of their duties and responsibilities and strive to cooperate with the government program to contain and defeat the virus instead of making the fight harder. The way we behave during this crisis must be guided by the our understanding that our first duty is to try our best to stay clean and not get infected, but also seeing to it that we do not infect others.
A case in point is what reportedly happened in Baguio. A couple allegedly came up to Baguio City to attend a seminar and stayed in one hotel even when they already had symptoms. They are now gone, but this caused the management of the hotel to close the hotel for disinfection and its restaurant to completely shut down. A lot of tracking of people who might have come into contact with the couple had to be done which could have been avoided if the couple simply stayed home.
Fortunately, the city remains free of any confirmed cases of COVID-19. As to what we can do to spend our time productively, well, there is Netflix, YouTube movies, books and bonding with family.
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Former President Fidel V. Ramos celebrated his 92nd birthday yesterday. A party on the 22nd of March to celebrate the occasion has now been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Although people are now living longer, getting to 92 is still something many of us can only wish for especially when it is a long fruitful and productive life dedicated to the service of one’s country because that in a nutshell is the life of our 12th president.
It started in the fields of West Point which he entered when he was barely 18 years old to the battlefields of Korea and Vietnam and the jungles of our sierra Madre Mountains until the people gifted him with the highest office of the land in 1992- the presidency. He retired in 1998 but continued promoting the country thru his foundation to this day. There are very few people more prepared to occupy the office of the president than FVR. He started from the lowest level of the government bureaucracy and worked his way up.
Happy Birthday, Mr President.