UNLIKE in previous years, Filipinos will usher in the New Year in a pollution-free and physically distanced but no less cheery celebration amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
But this will be the likely situation only if the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) will decide favorably to ban firecrackers and fireworks in welcoming 2021. Yes, it has the option to ensure a vigorous enforcement by national and local government authorities of a countrywide ban on firecrackers and fireworks to hail the New Year
Consistent with the government-led efforts to prevent and control the spread of COVID-19, especially in community settings, the IATF-EID should espouse an alternative way of heralding a healthy and environment-friendly New Year, and this is possible without the lighting of firecrackers and fireworks.
The task force may also ban the use of taxpayers’ money for the procurement of firecrackers, fireworks and similar explosives, which should be judiciously used to improve people’s living conditions affected by the pandemic and the flurry of typhoons that have ravaged parts of the country.
We recall IATF-EID’s successful effort to restrict mass gatherings during the time-honored observance of Undas by shutting down public cemeteries, private memorial parks, and columbaria from Oct. 29 to Nov. 4, which helped in preventing the risk of COVID-19 transmission as Filipinos pay homage to their dearly departed. We are certain that the IATF-EID can also succeed in ensuring a safe and ecological welcome of the New Year sans firecrackers and fireworks.
Banning firecrackers and fireworks amid the COVID-19 p0andemic is highly justified considering that lighting them emits loads of toxic gases and pollutants to the environment, causing poor air quality that weakens the immune system and put a person at a higher risk of respiratory infections, including COVID-19. Also, exposure to toxic pollutants emitted from the bursting of firecrackers and fireworks is dangerous to everyone, especially to the elderly and people with underlying medical conditions, including those afflicted with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart problems, diabetes and other illnesses, as they tend to develop more severe symptoms of COVID-19.
It must also be remembered that even minor injuries resulting from firecracker and firework accidents will require emergency care and treatment at a hospital to prevent tetanus infection, further straining an already overburdened healthcare system.
Instead of spending public, or even private, funds for firecrackers and fireworks, resources are better used to augment disaster relief and assistance for the survivors of typhoons “Quinta”, “Rolly” and “Ulysses” and other destructive calamities.
