Key to sanity

Over the past four months or so, we have been living under a fog of both frustration and expectation.

An unprecedented mess — that is what I deem this coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) crisis in the world.

Our country, neither rich nor poor, has been middling as well in its approach to win this battle.

We looked with awe at New Zealand (NZ) when it reported “zero” new cases one day many weeks ago. On 14 July, the country reported ONE new case of COVID-19, notably “74 days since the last case of COVID-19 was acquired locally from an unknown source,” goes a health bulletin from the NZ government.

The patient is a woman in her 60s who arrived from Pakistan on 30 June via Doha and Sydney. NZ has been quite organized and clear about its government’s response to the pandemic. Its borders have been on tight watch, with incoming individuals receiving priority testing as one of the protocols the country is applying. Among our neighbors, we wonder how Brunei is keeping its count of COVID-positive cases low, with no new cases recently; how Cambodia has only 156 cases as of 12 July and zero deaths; how Laos has only 19 cases and Vietnam only 342 as of 8 July.

Granted, each country is different in terms of population and health care systems, but it still brings up the point that the Philippines is currently second in Southeast Asia with highest COVID-19 positive cases.

While the progress of COVID-19 has been slow hereabouts compared with other countries like the US and in Europe (and the recovery rate higher than death), the stark, unvarnished truth is that the virus will be here for a long time.

It will be like the common cold, only much worse. That is the awful truth that we are starting to accept.

When the novel coronavirus first spread and

“Getting more people tested will significantly help in not only controlling the virus spread, but also in promoting better peace of mind among citizens.

scientists and medical experts scrambled to catch up to it, we tried to cope with the consequences of a pandemic “with a smile.”

In our minds, we believed the end of COVID-19 was near — okay, fine, maybe it will take a while, but it will surely disappear!

Right?

After almost four months in quarantine, fatigue has set in.

One still hears wistful words like, “When this is over...” or “When we go back to normal...” but perhaps it is time to reset our thinking.

Ever the practical doer, Senator Richard Gordon who heads the Philippine Red Cross has recently brought up something he had been talking about from the beginning of this unprecedented mess.

We are not discounting the massive efforts the Philippine government has already undertaken — including spending tons of the national budget to augment the daily survival of millions — but the time has come to recalibrate and draw up a stronger plan. (And maybe the oligarch-hating congs will participate by focusing on the rest of Filipinos this time.)

Gordon says a comprehensive plan — a “grand plan” — is needed to address the COVID-19 situation in the country. “Even if there is already a vaccine, the virus will still exist. There should be a policy that could be implemented up to four years… the things we should do to combat it,” he said in a report in this paper.

For the Red Cross chief, “testing is the key.” It is, he adds, “the key to reviving our economy. We have to test the workers to ensure their safety. The public utility vehicles like the buses should have proper physical distancing.”

While it will certainly result in a surge in numbers, getting more people tested will significantly help in not only controlling the virus spread, but also in promoting better peace of mind among citizens.

That question, “What should one do if one gets infected?” leads to many others, including where to go for testing, how to get there, and how to prepare if hospitalization is needed.

These may sound ordinary to the lofty minds in government, but these are very real concerns that need to be disseminated thoroughly among all Filipinos — including those people who only used to get ABS-CBN on free TV.

Spreading awareness — from ways to prevent infection, to good hygiene reminders, to information of where to go and what to do in case one gets infected — will help stop the spread of the dreaded disease.

Meanwhile, just to keep your fears at bay, keep wearing those masks.

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still brings up the point that the Philippines is currently second in Southeast Asia with highest COVID-19 positive cases.