March 15, 2020: OFFICIAL LOCKDOWN

When the clock ticked 12:01am, Manila, Philippines, its capital, with over 12 million populace, is on official lockdown in the government's attempt to curb the spread of the Covid-19 throughout the country. The "community pquarantine" involves a ban on land, domestic air and sea travels in and out of Metro Manila, which consist of 16 cities.

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This drastic measure was imposed after the recorded cases infected in the country spiked from 6 to 111, in just a short span of one week--from March 7 to 14. Most of the cases are from Metro Manila, alarming the government and the public as a whole.

I completely agree with a lockdown to defeat the virus, because as we know, modern transportation is a major factor that can quickly make a local epidemic global. Air travel makes it easy for a deadly disease to move, harbored inside an infected person, from one part of the country to any other part of the country, even to the other part of the world, within hours.

Living at almost a thousand kilometers away from the capital, this measure set by the government has created a mixture of different emotions, a sense of relief, fear, anxiety.

Are our government ready to face COVID-19?

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That question has been bugging me for a couple of days now. Our government is doing the best it can, disinfecting public transportations, like trains and buses; taking body temperatures to passengers.

But, we are far, far off from what South Korea is doing. We do not have facilities, equipments nor laboratories to monitor the extent of the spread of the virus.

From the news reports, even the medical personnels are at risk of contracting the virus, having dealt with a patient who have a different complain because of complications, but eventually died because of Covid-19.
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Reports also state that the Philippines has only 89,000 hospital beds and less than a thousand ICU bed units equipped with ventilators and life support.

Additionally, we lack testing kits, so those who have symptoms may not be tested right away.

We are but a poor country. Afluent countries like US, Italy and even China itself are having a hard bout in controlling the spread of this virus, how much more the Philippines?!? 😰

Le sigh.

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Perhaps we cannot do anything more but to pray and bolster our defenses by boosting our immune system, avoiding unnecessary physical contact such as hand shaking or hugging, washing our hands with soap and water frequently throughout the day, and avoidong crowded places. Washing of hands may be the simplest and inexpensive, but it is by far effective!

We just hope and pray that these terrifying situation would come to pass. But until then, it is comforting to know that God promised in His Word, the Bible:

"Jehovah will guard you against all harm.
He will guard your life.
Jehovah will guard you in all you do
From now on and forever."
--Psalms 121:6, 7.

Keep safe everyone.

This post is an entry to "What Does Today Mean To You?" by @freedomshift.

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