COVID-19 is forever?

An opinion piece in the New York Times the other week declared that SARS-CoV-2 could be with us forever.

Admitting it is a dark thought, the article nevertheless expressed the reality that “pulling that mental lever may be just what we need to organize effectively for the very long haul, dramatically improve our pandemic response, and embed safeguards into our everyday lives.”

In other words, being reasonably paranoid about COVID is the way to go.

As the NYT article pointed out, “If we think COVID-19 is going away, then we will drop our guard and not make essential investments now… Rather than debate how to end the pandemic, we need to debate how to live with it.”

So, the NYT article mused, what might our daily lives look like as we come to terms with COVID forever?

“Will all-day masking in schools and offices continue indefinitely? Will we have to pare back our holiday party guest lists for years to come? Will home testing before any social gathering become de rigueur? Will vending machines in every subway station carry cheap KN95 masks?”

Masking up indoors and in crowded places is probably necessary for a while.

Our lives will not return to a pre-pandemic normal. Instead, society must accept protective measures. What we most urgently need is enlightened and well informed officials determining what public health measures ought to be taken.

There should no longer be any insistence on the illogical, militaristic approach that produced one of the world’s longest lockdowns, yet didn’t keep us from being at the bottom of the latest COVID-19 Resilience Ranking of Bloomberg and the COVID-19 Recovery Index of Nikkei Asia.

Why did our government impose curfews? How was that supposed to reduce the number of cases?

And the face shields. We were the only country that required its use because there was no scientific evidence that it really helps. Was it to help Pharmally sell billions of pesos worth of expired face shields?

Personally, I didn’t mind it so much because I am essentially paranoid and a layer of imagined protection is good for my mental health.

It is absurd that only a handful of schools have been allowed to do face-to-face classes. Let us stop pretending that resorting to online classes worked. Schools can be opened as many other countries have done, provided precautions are taken.

Classrooms should be reconfigured to provide adequate air circulation. School officials should be alert to identify infected children, and this is where rapid antigen testing comes in.

In the US and Europe, where the test kits are readily available, it is the responsibility of parents to test their kids several times during the week and keep them home if they get a positive result.

Our main problem in our new normal is identifying and isolating persons who are infected and able to pass on infection, but show no signs of infection. The scientific way of addressing the problem is proper testing.

But our Health officials refuse to see there are two concepts at play: Medical diagnostic testing (RT-PCR) and public health testing (rapid antigen tests). So they insist that the only test to use is the RT-PCR, which is expensive and takes time for results.

But a Harvard epidemiologist insists that a good plan to get us out of this COVID war with no lockdowns, no waiting for vaccines, and reverse cases in weeks is widespread use of rapid at home COVID tests.

The doctor practices what he preaches. He tweeted that “rapid tests before visitors come into our home help keep our newborn baby safe.” Indeed, that is also how the PSG keeps Duterte safe by requiring visitors to the Palace to take a rapid test first.

“Rapid antigen COVID tests are cheap to produce, easy to use, and can report results in a matter of minutes. They’re a powerful tool for stopping the spread of COVID because they allow people to test frequently, and if results are positive, quarantine immediately rather than wait one to five days for a PCR test result… for less than $1 per test, we could break the chain of transmission.”

The transmission window is short, the Harvard specialist pointed out, so rapid testing allows isolation when transmission is greatest, cutting off spread. But delays in PCR test results makes it a useless public health tool.

Government should allow companies to conduct rapid tests on their employees before they enter the workplace as often as necessary. Companies should be able to fire employees who refuse vaccination as they endanger the health of other employees, as well as company clients.

Rapid antigen tests can also play a major role in opening up travel and tourism. Our officials will just have to update themselves on how it is to be properly used.

The Biden administration has announced an additional $1 billion investment in at-home rapid tests. That is in addition to the $2 billion investment announced in September to secure 280 million rapid-antigen tests as part of its plan to require employees of large companies to either get vaccinated or to be tested weekly. It also invoked the wartime Defense Production Act as part of a broader push to expand test manufacturing.

Surely, the US will not throw that much money on rapid tests if they are unreliable, as our DOH keeps on insisting.

Anti-COVID pills will soon be available and will make living with COVID easier. If we are able to treat COVID the way we treat influenza, it wouldn’t terrorize us the way we have been terrorized the past two years.

Public buildings must be retrofitted to assure they will not become superspreader locations. Cinemas are now allowed to operate, but has anyone done any study of how to make them COVID-safe?

Living with COVID may also mean people attending concerts, a ballgame or just watching a movie may be subjected to a rapid test. Large hotel functions and church services will probably also need similar precautions.

Living with COVID will rightfully entail some inconveniences, but that’s for everyone’s protection. In the end, it is the paranoid who will survive this invisible enemy.

Boo Chanco’s email address is [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @boochanco