One-Year Old Lockdown And Some Cheers For The Virus

 


     Exactly a year ago, today, the first Metro Manila wide lockdown (the longest in the world) was implemented. And after a year, the severity of the COVID-19 situation here in the Philippines sadly remains the same (with recent cases reaching five thousand a day), and at the rate things are going, it will stay the same for many months to come, and some people still don’t know which to blame, the public which is being accused as stubborn and noncompliant to health protocols, or the government who is proving to be incompetent at everything they do, a government being led by a president who at the onset of the pandemic threatened to slap the virus, a president who just last week again advised the public to sanitize their hands with gasoline.

     Every time I go out, I could see that the majority of people are following the health protocols regarding the virus. They are wearing masks and face shields and would try hard to practice physical distancing. So no, I don’t think the public is to blame for the new surge in COVID-19 cases.

     The government is to blame, IMO, including the president whom people only see once a week, a president who seems clueless and has no sense of urgency when it comes to the real COVID-19 situation. It started when they dilly-dallied in closing the country’s borders at the onset of the pandemic. They even mishandled the early procurement of vaccines. Want more proof on how this government is bungling the response to the disease? Last week, Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque proudly claimed that the government was doing an excellent job in controlling the spread of the virus. “We are winning against the virus!” he declared.

     This morning, he announced that he was positive with COVID-19.

     And last week, the PNP chief, who’s in charge of making sure the health protocols are followed and everyone stay safe from the virus, a cop curiously named Debold (was his father a fan of the bold films before?) also claimed to have acquired the dreaded virus. I just hope they (Harry and Debold) are telling us the truth and that they stay positive---I mean, I hope, despite their illness, their outlook on life remains positive. 

     It's just heartening, I mean, it's just sad that in Harry and Debold's fight against COVID-19, almost all people in social media are cheering for the virus.

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