THE last time all three of us ever went out of the house together had been before Covid19, more than eight months ago. Back then, a normal sched for us three included regular weekend visits to my dad and relatives, malling and groceries on days of our choosing, and lastly, regular office work in the city for my son, as well as for my partner, with her office nearby.
Alas, when the pandemic hit along with quarantine and work from home regulations, we had to forego with all of the normal stuff and intentionally refrained from going out entirely, up until last week that is. (Individually though, we may have all done so for little errands here and there.) However, of the three, yours truly, being most ancient and thus most vulnerable to catch the flyball virus, had been designated as house glue or pet, doomed to just stay home, no matter what.
Things are not so bad actually, it’s almost like playing captain, standing on deck to a sinking ship, or an errant private confined to barracks. While my masked housemates meet retailers at the gate for our food or grocery orders, I am just left standing guard by the screen door, watching the transactions take place. It’s the same thing with a neighbor who actually works in a luxurious cruise ship. Well, he’s now presently dry-docked, with a new land-based assignment, tending flowers in the garden and tending to their dogs. At least, we are both home, and safe.
Alas, in all of this pandemic emergency happening all over the world, we all have our specific parts to play. In this quarantined episode of our lives, the question remains, are we playing these roles well?
I know of some families who have to contend with less pleasant and bleaker situations; like having a sick member who needs to be taken care of, or having a medical frontliner-parent who needs to be at hospital always. At worst, for some, it could be a covid-related death.
These are just some of the uncertainties brought about by the dire times, and they may be so easy to be turned away from, unless when it happens to you. This is why it is just so hard to hear grudgingly-silly comments from some people online who complain over the lesser inconveniences in their lives.
At present, the city seems to be at the crossroads. Amidst other cities’ different approaches and quarantine protocols, it seems caught in a dilemma, so to speak; to pursue its step-by-step strategy at economically regaining what had been lost in the ten months rampage of covid, or to re-apply the heavy hand approach of back-to-basics ECQ, enhanced community quarantine for all.
As what had been said before, something’s got to give. While it might be possible to employ both, they cannot co-exist on equal terms. So far, if one were to look back at all the past strategies in the last eight to ten months, all that they have proved was that the weakest link had been the public, overall. For the government, one fault may have been to ask the citizens to be self-regulative and not be too complacent in their social distancing. Truth is, dogs are more trainable really. In the MCQ, the spike had happened, and we are again back to having curfew enforced.
In what might be another development, I have read of some who approve of herd immunity, that supposed-state when 70% of the population already becomes immune to a virus, and the assumption that the worst has passed. Truth is, for 70% immunity to be really possible, we have to at first have to have a high incidence of death in the overall population. Are we even really thinking along these terms? Or just stay true to the simple roles assigned us in the covid script? Social distancing, wear a mask, wash your hands. Woof woof, aw aw.
