02490: Social Risks


Dune (1982) - Hunter Seeker

Metro Manila Community Quarantine - Day 132

The general principle of all quarantine guidelines thus far has been to discourage non-essential travel to minimize the potential spread of COVID-19. And for the most part Tobie and I have been pretty strict about this and only go out for supply runs and haven't had any guests.

Another guideline under General Community Quarantine keeps stressing that mass gatherings of people cannot exceed 10 people. But to be fair, most of our game nights involve a total of 4-6 people, albeit not necessarily under proper social distancing. And the thought keeps coming to mind in terms of when it might be tempting enough to gather friends for a game night.

People have gotten used to reminding one another that we should operate in this pandemic with the assumption that we probably have the virus and we should avoid risking others. And that's why things like masks with valves that only offer one-way protection have become a bit of an issue since they go against that principle. So keeping that in mind, it feels like hosting a game night may feel like too much of risk.

Tobie and I have talked about this more than a few times over the past four months of quarantine and we figure it's always the question of (1) do we want to risk getting sick and (2) which friend/s would we want to risk infecting as well. The back and forth discussions related to these terrible options typically end with the reaffirmation that it's too soon to invite friends over. And so we don't bother even asking people if they'd want to roll the dice.

It doesn't help that a lot of our friends fall under the at-risk categories, mainly people with prevailing conditions that may prove as further complications for COVID-19. There's a lot of literature out there about how people with different heart conditions or diabetes have been more likely to contract the disease or even to more likely die from it, depending on which article you read. And that's quite a risk for friends you love dearly. 

But I have to admit, this lockdown is really wearing me down. I've been feeling a little heavy and listless this week and it's only by drowning myself in silly Gameboys-related content that I've found reasons to smile. Kylie Minogue releasing a new single out of the blue was another highlight to the weeks that has helped uplift my spirits a bit.

Guys, it's fucking August next week. It's going to be my birthday month and we're winding into our fifth month of lockdown. And the last word from the government was that we might need to go back to a stricter level fo quarantine, which just blows my mind to even start to think about. And the numbers continue to look terrible. And I dunno, I think the lack of variety to our days is beginning to really get to me. 

Or probably it's more the lack of interaction with friends and other people. It's the increasing worrying over friends without jobs and businesses that can't operate during quarantine like O Bar. More and more establishments are closing indefinitely with no clear commitments to re-open after the quarantines end. More and more people in our social circles are losing their jobs. 

What the fuck is happening to this country?

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