A YEAR ago we were adjusting to life staying indoors. We learned new cooking hacks and random hobbies.
A year ago we were making thousands of Dalgona coffee, Ube-cheese Pandesal and Sushi bake.
A year ago we played “Adorable Home”, “Animal Crossing” and “Among Us”.
A year ago we started selling facemasks and face shields in online stores.
A year ago we started investing in Zoom, Google Meet and Skype.
A year ago Foodpanda, Grab food and Shopee kept us sane.
A year ago we added the words ECQ, GCQ and MECQ to our vocabulary.
A year ago we watched in horror as Italy, Spain and the USA closed their borders to the world.
A year ago we pushed our medical practitioners to their limit without just compensation.
A year ago people started voicing their distaste for the government and pointing out its flaws.
Now, it seems we’re up for the same routine this year.
Other countries are slowly showing signs of improvement. The number of cases aren’t rising so much and they’re on their second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
We, on the other hand, are having a second wave of cases that is higher than the first. More than 60 percent of the population is hesitant to get vaccinated, and the 40 percent who are willing don’t have any vaccines available.
Our doctors and nurses are still going through hell. They are stretching themselves thin to the point of exhaustion and they can’t even get paid their measly salary on time.
Businesses are going bankrupt and low-income workers are running out of options on how to sustain themselves. Poverty is increasing and people are getting hungry.
Most of our government officials are failing to help the people who voted for them. They undermine the suffering of the public and fail to follow the protocols they made.
Will this cycle ever end?
We start blaming the public for being stubborn, for refusing to be a hermit in their houses. However, why is it that other countries that are laxer than the Philippines are improving? Why are WE the new COVID capital?
What is happening is horrible. Luzon is under quarantine once more and I’m sure it will last more than April 4. The issue isn’t how you will be “bored” at home, but how this will further impoverish people who are already in the low-income spectrum. How this is going to be the death of our medical professionals. How it’s baffling that even though we had the strictest quarantine in the world, we have one of the highest cases.
Will this ever end? Is there going to be a light at the end of the tunnel?
There will be, eventually, but not all people have to luxury to wait patiently and enjoy their “vacation”. If there is a way for us to solve this, then I hope we can figure out a solution fast.
I don’t know if the country will be able to handle a whole other year of what we are doing./PN
