People are the Virus
Jover C. Patawaran
The world has been put to a half when Covid-19 was declared a pandemic month ago. The world’s governments were forced to shut their economy down in fear of further spread of the disease. In our country, the President declared nationwide community quarantine to prevent the cases of infection among the people. Because of this, many were compelled to stay home to avoid the risk of contracting the disease. The streets became empty, malls were vacated and communities appeared to be ghost towns. The vibrant fiestas and summer outings were only to be remembered and not bound to be experienced in this year. Churches were closed and schools became unusually quiet in a long time. Despite of these, the increase in the number of infection seems to be out of control, hundreds were added in the statistics of cases daily. Probably, this has something to do with Filipinos becoming social junkies. A friend’s secret birthday must be attended and a relatives’ funeral must be visited to show support to the bereaved family. This can also be attributed to the lack of discipline and cooperation of some individuals. A single infected person going out in the public seems to become a drop of water creating ripples in all direction. These explain why the threat of covid-19 still lingers around if not more grave. The government is doing its best to help us get through this problem, what we need to do is to show our support and widen our understanding for whatever policies they make. As the usual saying goes, “if you can’t be part of the solution, at least don’t be part of the problem”.
Let us be more kind and giving during this time for we do not know what will happen tomorrow. Let us spread positive thoughts in social media rather than posting our rants and infecting other people with our negativity. Be more understanding and gentle amidst an angry and depressed populace. Remember, it’s not what color you belong because the disease does not discriminate, instead, let us help uplift one another. Truly the last beacon for humanity at this time is a vaccine that can half the rapid increase of infection and us becoming the social vaccine is the only way to treat the disease that eats our society because truly, people are the virus.
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The author is Teacher I at Pampanga High School