Nothing to joke about

Thirty thousand six hundred eighty-two confirmed cases recorded by the DOH. I don't know if it's just me or are cases piling up a lot faster than the past month? Cebu City is currently under ECQ due to a spike in the number of cases. All this happening as the country slowly wakes up after a long and strict quarantine period.

The WHO has issued a warning that the world is entering a new and more dangerous phase where many people tired of staying at home start leaving the house even as COVID-19 is still a threat. The latest count is over 9.1 million infected of which 472,216 have died. There is no clear vaccine against COVID-19 because of the many characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 still unknown to researchers. Without a successful vaccine, the COVID-19 threat will not go away.

In America, it was ironic that six staffers part of the advance party organizers of President Trump's Tulsa, Oklahoma rally tested positive for COVID-19. Most who attended the rally did not wear masks and did not practice physical distancing even if the venue was not packed. Trump himself seemed to once again downplay the raging virus when he stated he ordered testing to slow down so the number of cases does not increase. I don't know what logic he based that on but not scientific. Trump's campaign team said he was only joking and that the statement was tongue-in-cheek. Sounds familiar, doesn't it? We will have to wait if any one of those who attended gets sick.

It's been three weeks since Metro Manila was placed under GCQ. The economy is slowly waking up, for those still able to do so. The restaurants have been allowed to accept dine-in customers but only under a limited capacity, strict physical distancing conditions even for couples and families. The modern jeepney has been allowed in fifteen routes. Traditional jeepneys may join them soon after a thorough review.

But the DOH will be watching the number of cases, particularly the locations of surges. If they identify a cluster, immediate action must be taken to lock down and secure to prevent a spread. We need to always need to get ahead of this virus. It cannot be treated lightly and underestimated which seems to be the case by the Trump administration. The US currently has more than 2.3 million confirmed cases with over 120,000 deaths, the most in the world. That's not something to joke about.