As early as February 2020 I have been
frequently hearing the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCov) or now known
as the new Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) yet, I never bother to really
check this concern to personally understand the extent and seriousness of this
treacherous pandemic disease.
But since the danger has finally come
down to the Philippine territory this March including the National Capital
Region (NCR) which is the center of political, commercial, marketing, and social
activities, hence, it prompted me to finally do some readings to fully
understand this COVID19 that has put the nation in a state of a public health
emergency.ully
understand this COVID19 that has put the nation in a state of a public health
emergency.
It says that COVID19 comes from a large family of viruses that puts animals and human beings vulnerable to respiratory infections starting from the common cold to severe diseases like the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) up to this new COVID19. While there are continuous reports of suspected COVID19 cases, as well as suspected PUIs in some areas of the country including the rising number of countries afflicted with this disease, there are people who tend to ignore the appeal of the government and the medical community worldwide to protect.
It says that COVID19 comes from a large family of viruses that puts animals and human beings vulnerable to respiratory infections starting from the common cold to severe diseases like the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) up to this new COVID19. While there are continuous reports of suspected COVID19 cases, as well as suspected PUIs in some areas of the country including the rising number of countries afflicted with this disease, there are people who tend to ignore the appeal of the government and the medical community worldwide to protect.
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| Photo lited from Google through https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/03/15/20/philippines-covid-19-death-toll-now-at-12 |
On March
12, 2020, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte in a public address aired over
national television the national government’s decision to implement a community
quarantine as a move to contain the deadly virus.
Community
quarantine is different from the most feared “lockdown” which is being
implemented in countries such as Wuhan in China and Italy where huge the number
of its populace are afflicted by the coronavirus.
Here in
the Philippines, the government has implemented the imposition of community
quarantine to supposedly regulate the movement of the public to further avert the outbreak and/or infection of COVID19 to the people in the community
especially those who have weak lungs or problems with the respiratory system.
While the
government, media, and international medical organizations are making so much
noise appealing to everyone to help contain the virus by refraining from going
out, sadly, this big chunk of the NCR population continues to disregard the
appeal. Much, these undistracted people are mostly belonging in the
socioeconomic classes D and E.
Coronavirus
is a serious threat to everyone, in fact, it can take away the life of anyone
of us including our beloved family members without really identifying the cause
or origin of our infection. Thus, I deemed it proper for the government to
cascade its information campaign in depressed communities using their local and
community parlance to better understand and appreciate the message.
The world
is facing a very serious problem, yet the most vulnerable sector which
comprises the majority of the Philippine populations remains to be
uncooperative. It is on this note that the police, barangay and possibly the military
should step in to compel these people to follow if they cannot show their cooperation.
We must understand that as humans, we only have one life to live. Therefore, we
need to be responsible for our life existence. And as human creatures, we are
bounded by the norms in order for us to peacefully exist. This includes
recognizing other people’s right to live, health, and peacefully coexist.
As of this
writing, we now have 140 confirmed COVID19 cases with eight mortality. Thus, it
is my prayer that the numbers will stop these current statistics, and those that were infected
will eventually recover and heal. #