Loosening the quarantine

When the General Community Quarantine was implemented in Cebu City, I was giddy because finally I could dine in at my favorite restaurant. Although I knew that there would be safety protocols to abide by which meant that I wouldn’t be able to share my meal with whoever I was with. Bonding over food already seemed impossible as talking was a hard thing to do. But still, it was a step forward.

But all the more the days felt like it was still under the Enhanced Community Quarantine. Checkpoints never left and the show of force by the policemen made those without a quarantine pass and IDs stay home, despite their urges to see how the outside looks like. Some establishments remained closed even if they could already operate. The overhead expenses are just too much to handle, too painful even to lay off their workers.

I personally feel like it has been a long lockdown already and everything is overdue. Many plans have been cancelled and put on hold because there is no moving forward from the current status. However, now that we have learned our lesson the biggest question is, are we ready to loosen the quarantine even more?

With this, fear may continue to persist and the threat of more cases of COVID-19 could occur. We might be back to square one, and it would be a shame as an indicator of what Cebu City residents are. At this time where many businesses are already at the brink of closing, it is so hard to strike a balance between public health and the economy.

Government resources are now obviously depleted and asking too much financial aid may result to none. So what can one do in this time of quarantine? Instead of wallowing in the fact that moving around is hard to do, maybe alternatives to your livelihood would do. That is if it is also applicable to you.

Transportation is also an issue for workers under GCQ. If we move on to MGCQ more workers would have to go out and it would add up to the many who are having a hard time getting a ride. I think that government should act fast to strike the balance between the opening of the industries and how to make sure the virus is contained.

No, I don’t believe in any vaccine at the moment nor did I pray that it would come fast like that of Russia. The best way to approach this problem is to involve medical personnel in all the policies to be implemented. They know better how the virus would transmit without having to sacrifice a part of the economy.

It all comes to this: We need leaders with a heart to look into every sector and their concerns as the year continues to come to a close in the next months. If only we can fast forward this year. If only.