EDITORIAL - A year of lockdowns

Exactly a year since the National Capital Region and Cainta in Rizal were placed under enhanced community quarantine, a longer curfew of 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. went into effect yesterday in the NCR. In several areas in the region, localized ECQs were in place as police teams were deployed to once again strictly enforce COVID health protocols particularly mask wearing and physical distancing.

Today, a year after the ECQ was extended to the entire Luzon to contain the spread of coronavirus disease 2019, the country is grappling with the rapid spread of COVID-19, which appears to be fueled by more infectious variants of the coronavirus. Local governments are reimposing liquor bans and shutting down bars and gyms that only recently reopened, and Caloocan City has restored quarantine passes for shopping.

On the first anniversary of the lockdowns, the country logged the fourth highest single day jump in cases and the highest in seven months, registering 5,404 infections yesterday and bringing the total to 626,893. Active cases stood at 53,479 yesterday as several local governments in Metro Manila warned that their hospitals were running out of beds dedicated to COVID cases.

A year into the lockdowns, the country has lost 12,837 to COVID. Among the latest fatalities was a driver of Pasig Mayor Vico Sotto.

Last year the country had 140 infections as of March 15; the number inched up to 142 when ECQ went into effect. On March 17, the Department of Health confirmed that community transmission had started, with the number of cases jumping by 45, to 187. On the same day, President Duterte declared a nationwide COVID state of calamity. Today, a daily addition of only 45 cases would be cause for celebration. And with the economy in its worst post-war recession while COVID infections surge, the country remains in a calamitous state.

Vaccination is underway, but mainly using shots donated by China and the World Health Organization’s COVAX Facility. The government is just starting to sign the supply agreements for vaccines it is procuring on its own, with substantial funding provided by multilateral agencies.

Despite what has been described as the world’s longest COVID lockdown, the country now has the second highest infections and the worst recession in Southeast Asia. It was the last to obtain COVID vaccines, and among the last to begin inoculation. The second anniversary of the lockdowns should mark a resolve to improve the pandemic response.