EDITORIAL - Remove the temptation

While the Cebu City police suggested that the Sinulog activities should be cancelled for this year, Cebu City Vice Mayor Michael Rama is having none of it.

Aside from the Novena Masses, Adlaw sa Pasalamat, and the Hubo ritual, Rama is insisting on holding a grand parade albeit reduced to 70% the usual number of participants.

He also says performers will be asked to stay within their own groups while waiting to perform and then go home immediately after. There will also be no live audience allowed during the performances.

Perhaps he should listen to the police. Right now allowing many such activities, even if these are held within a “bubble”, isn’t such a good idea.

Activities that require many people to come together in a small space, isn’t advisable at this time. This just isn’t about catching COVID-19 anymore, but the new variant of the coronavirus that is being detected in more and more places around the world.

While this new variant isn’t deadlier than the typical COVID-19, it is more contagious, which means it can be transmitted faster and spread even more quickly among a population.

We should not forget that COVID-19 arrived here without our knowledge. Before we realized what was happening it was already wreaking havoc among our people. And while signs point to infections slowing down, they have not totally stopped.

So who can say for certain, and with all assurance, that the new COVID-19 variant isn’t here yet and will never arrive here?

We should not take unnecessary risks. If we allow live performances in a certain area, that will create the temptation for people to go and see. It’s just the nature of humans. People with intent will always find a way. More so with people who have been cooped up in their homes or neighborhoods for the most part of last year. People who have always looked to the Sinulog as an excuse to cut loose and party.

It’s better to remove that temptation than risk people going out in droves, resulting in another spike of typical COVID-19 or worse, the new variant that is more contagious.