Pandemic Pondering

The world is busy as always. People are everywhere- going to work, attending school, travelling to different places, partying until dawn, shopping the stores, and the list goes on.

Everything was normal until December 31 last year when China alerted the WHO to several cases of unusual pneumonia in Wuhan, a city of 11 million people. There was a virus born that I never thought could change the status quo.

At first, our government in the Philippines was still complacent and saw no necessity to safeguard our country from the disease. It was saddening to note that in the wake of the Novel Corona Virus (NCOV), the government still waited for the number of COVID- 19 cases to rise before banning tourists that have travel history from China. We were forewarned but were not forearmed. We thought that we would be fine, until January 30 this year when our Department of Health reported the first case of COVID-19 in the country with a 38-year-old female Chinese national.

It has never been this way. Since lockdown is put into effect, people are now inside of their houses. Streets are empty. Public places are lifeless. Everything that has been happening seems to be a part of a movie. From community quarantine to enhanced community quarantine, to general community quarantine, and in fact, there are actually places where total lockdown is enforced.

What is going on? We have become strangers in our own world. Our world has become strange to us. In this unprecedented moment, I can only reflect.

Up-to-date, we travel into the unknown. The bodies of dead individuals who succumbed to COVID- 19, wrapped and cremated are flashing in grey dullness of my imagination. It hurts to witness their families lament on their deaths without even having the chance to be with them and at least hold their hands as they stepped on the verge of death. I couldn not imagine how difficult it is for of a COVID- 19 patient and the concerned family to be left agonizing, holding on to an iota of hope.

This dark time has brought out both the good and the bad side of humanity. I think that many of us, Filipinos, lack discipline. There are people who remain to be hard- headed and even compromising our lives. I would say "our lives" because if one becomes infected with the virus, anyone can catch it as well. I would like to accentuate the fact that youths are still going out of their houses and live like nothing is really happening. I know that we are not used to living like this, but this is the only way to live now and survive.

The government vows to take the responsibility to cater to the needs of its constituents. Several programs have been created, one of which is the Social Amelioration Program (SAP). I am relieved to feel that we have the government with us in this fight. However, I am just worried with the situation where the money received from this is not spent wisely. There are, in fact, cases where recepients use their SAP money in gambling. There are also those who practice crab mentality poking judgement to the ones who receive such assistance.

Surely, I wouldn't forget to mention the opportunists who take advantage of the current situation. There are sellers of essential products such as alcohol and face masks who turned out to be greedy. I am utterly disappointed that even in the face of misfortune like this, we still have our fellow Filipinos who hoard and eventually put really high prices to their products, doubling or tripling the original prices, knowing that people will buy them anyway.

I think that this is the time where compassion is very much needed.

On the other hand, goodness has not gone astray. I feel proud with all the people who use various platforms and ways to help their fellows. I write this with utmost appreciation to our frontliners who are risking their lives while saving others' lives. It is all about caring for each other. This is the perfect time for sharing. It is heartwarming to see people conduct relief operations, giving goods and hope to all of us. I would like to mention Angel Locsin who tirelessly works to have something for our frontliners and everyone else as well. I can tell how satisfying and fulfilling doing this charity works is because I, myself, has helped in repacking and distributing relief goods in our community. Indeed, sharing is caring, and caring is loving.

No one knows when will we get through this. We don't even know what life is after this. Will the world be as busy as before? Will people still be able to go everywhere? What is going to be the status quo in the workplace and school? When can we party again until dawn? When can we shop the stores again? These foregoing questions continue to traverse my mind.

As these questions continue to lurk, the challenge that the virus has posed for us as students should be faced with high spirit. I believe that first, we have to be law- abiding citizens. Discipline is the key. Obeying the law is the least thing we can actually do. Another thing is that, we can also take this opportunity to help our parents in household chores. This is a bonding moment while we stay within the comfort of our homes. And the most important thing that we can do as students is to continue learning every day. Learning should not stop in spite of the virus. Much time is given for us to study lessons that were not covered. The point here is that, we should maximize our potentials and time. We may be away from school, but we can create our homes as our learning environment.

Certainly, COVID- 19 is unprecedented. As we are facing its threat today, we really do not know when are we going to finally free ourselves from it. One thing is sure, this pandemic taught us to be grateful for our life and that we ought to treasure it. Thousands have already passed away and not unless we cooperate with our government and protect ourselves, flattening the curve will remain to be a dream.

For the meantime, while we currently distance ourselves physically from each other, why don't we ponder the pandemic?