EDITORIAL - Lessons not learned

As of last count there are now over 286,000 cases of COVID-19 in the Philippines.

Despite the rosy picture painted by the government, we have cause to be concerned as reports have it that there have been at least 3,000 new cases reported daily and non-stop since September 8. This only tells us the rate of infections is not slowing down.

Why is it so hard to bring the numbers down? Of course, there is no simple and singular answer to that. But we can cite what happened recently in Manila as one of the reasons why the coronavirus continues to spread; some Filipinos just lack the discipline and sometimes the plain common sense to deal with the virus.

Just in case you haven’t heard what happened, this is what took place. The authorities decided to open the section of Manila Bay to visitors so they could appreciate what adding crushed dolomite did to that place. In response, thousands swarmed the attraction, causing a brief traffic jam on Roxas Boulevard.

Then the crowd practically had their run of the place, hanging out, taking pictures; generally having a good time while ignoring every safety protocol that has been taught to them these past few months.

Why do we say some Filipino lack the common sense to deal with this crisis? They go somewhere even when there was no immediate or urgent need to go to that place.

We cannot blame their curiosity for being piqued. The Manila Bay rehabilitation project drew a lot of criticism and attention lately. People most likely wanted to see for themselves what was causing such a ruckus in the news and in social media.

But going to see a new beach is not something urgent or important. Going there did not fulfill an immediate need, but they did so anyway. And they did so at the risk getting infected by a virus that is still making its rounds in the country.

Their presence there only showed they favored their curiosity over common sense.

Why do we say some Filipinos lack the discipline to deal with this crisis? Some people in the thousands who were there to gawk at the beach didn’t wear any face mask or face shield.

Another thing we can see from footage and photos is that people were not practicing safe distancing.

We cannot definitely say that new transmissions happened when people flocked to see the new beach in Manila Bay, but what we are sure of is that the transmission can happen if people cluster in large groups and disregard social distancing and face mask protocols.

Again, we have to remind people that it takes only one slip for us to fall back into a situation that requires even tighter quarantine restrictions. Sadly, it seems some of us just don’t care at all if that happens.