Metro Manila Community Quarantine - Day 31
Yesterday Barangay Fort Bonifacio released a memo detailing that BGC and related areas would finally implement the need for quarantine passes in order to leave our homes for essential supplies. This follows news items that circulated last week that the mayor of Taguig berated the public for not strictly following quarantine as evidenced by joggers and dog walkers. This seems to be a natural consequence, and the mayor is specifically mentioned in the memo.
Funnily, they estimate that households will have their passes by the end of the week, which feels a little late given this extension of the Enhanced Community Quarantine is supposed to end on 30 April. Of course, a lot of folks online, myself included, are already assuming that the quarantine period will be extended some more as our curve of infections does not seem to be getting any flatter.
This whole quarantine period is tough on a number of levels. Personally, it's the uncertainty that eats away at me most - not knowing if there's an actual point to all this. We've disrupted the lives of so many people but for what? If the rate of infection for COVID-19 maintains this pace, then did we really change anything significantly? Is the government doing its part to make the most of this quarantine period by doing what needs to be done including getting an accurate picture of how bad this disease is along with making sure we have sufficient equipment and facilities to ensure our healthcare workers can do their jobs as best as we can?
I miss being around other people. I miss hanging out to play board games and swap stories around a single table. I miss being able to go out to O Bar to enjoy the drag show and dance embarrassingly to the house music. I miss being free to visit my family without complication and spend Saturdays going around BGC with them. I miss watching stage plays and musicals in different venues.
We all miss a lot of things. And this should all be worth it if we actually beat this disease without taking the Philippine economy down with it or something. But it's hard to see how this is going to play out for now. Our main course of action is to stay home as much as we can and try not add to the problem of COVID-19 spreading across the country. Quarantine isn't great but it's our best contribution to this larger fight against the disease. That, and the need to hope for the best somehow and not let our fears and worries dominate our thoughts.
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