‘Lock and load!’

The fear and desperation over COVID-19 last week was palpable. Friends were dying, friends were landing in ICUs, friends could not get into hospitals and people were desperately asking for answers or solutions. The only answer was ECQ.

I, like many Filipinos, went through a series of thoughts and emotions as things began to unravel outdoors. But one can only take in so much or stand by and do nothing or be gripped by helplessness. So the first thing I did was check on friends, warned family members about the highly contagious variants and listened carefully to what was happening to the victims of this latest and overwhelming surge.

First thing I noticed that was not being highlighted enough is the fact that the speed of community transmission is not simply because the variants are “new” but because there are more carriers who are predominantly ASYMPTOMATIC. One friend I know who just tested positive is a professional athlete who has been working out the whole time and only noted some lower back pain that he mistakenly attributed to muscle ache. A dear friend who died five days ago was telling everybody that his cough and chest pain were probably due to paint fumes he inhaled while painting his house. These are just two of thousands of asymptomatic Walking-Covid carriers. This is a primary cause why more people were getting infected and not just because we let our guards down. We were watching out for an enemy we already knew, were familiar with and knew how to avoid or how to fight. We were not ready for the variants and it is nobody’s fault. It took us six months to figure out the original COVID and it will take the same amount of time to deal with the UK, the South African and the Brazilian variants. Already some experts in the US are warning the world against the Brazilian variant because it could be the gate crasher that crushes many countries.

As a result of all this information, my first step was to “lock down” my current place of residence here in Lipa City. Nobody gets in without approval and nobody comes close and you MUST wear a mask. Rude by provincial standards but so be it. If we all lock down our homes to outsiders and create internal bubbles for people who “MUST” go out to work, then give them a bubble to live in until we all get vaccinated. That is the “LOCK” part of my title.

After hearing about so many people not being admitted into hospitals, I did my own analysis of the situation on the ground and here is the recipe for the disaster we are in. Here in Lipa City, I read in one of their info graphics that if you want or need to be tested, you should call your Barangay Health Officer or office and file a request for COVID-19 testing. They in turn will assess, record and refer you to a testing facility. Presumably it is to keep tabs on people feeling ill or finding a need to be tested in the area and to regulate testing to essentials so supplies don’t dry up due to hypochondriacs. That unfortunately eats up precious time and directs a potential carrier to infect people en route and at the barangay. A couple of cases I heard about here and in the NCR tell about patients who could not get an ambulance to bring them to a hospital. In one case the patient had to stay in the ambulance indefinitely until space became available at the hospital. If my friend took a tricycle he might have survived. Then we now have government officials telling people to defer going to hospitals unless they are severe to critical so that ICU beds can be kept available for dire needs. But recent information has pointed out that early treatment often results in early remedy or cure. So the effort to save ICU beds come at the cost of people’s chances for faster recovery.

Given that our hospitals are filled to the brim and if we can’t admit people into hospitals or give them medical attention as needed, then the government and the PMA should direct all medical practitioners to provide the public the means to take care of themselves at home legally. Give them access to what I call a “COVID-19 FIRST AID KIT.” Give them free access to testing centers without having to waste time getting permits from the barangay unless barangays will provide the tests in exchange for time spent or wasted for bureaucratic compliance.

Give people prescriptions for medicines that address and alleviate the early symptoms of Covid-19 in order to keep infected people stable and comfortable. Let people LOAD up on medicinal ammunition against COVID-19 with the proper guidance of physicians. This is not about promoting self-medication because the family or personal physicians will be on top of the situation giving the prescriptions and instructions. From what I gathered from doctors it seems that their suggestions were quite similar: For infections, Azithromycin; for respiratory congestion or breathing problems, Budesonide inhaler; for phlegm build up, Fluimucil; for nutritionally and boosting immunity, 2000 mg of vitamin C, Vitamin D, Zinc, Melatonin.

For elderly individuals at home it may be worth having a small tank of medical grade oxygen. All of these are commonly available medicine and can be improved upon by experts. Mine is just a suggestion to assemble the First Aid Kit so people can help themselves until the hospitals and doctors have room. In time of war, saving people’s lives takes precedent over bureaucracy and archaic rules.

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