Reopening

Despite the global race for a vaccine or cure, we all know that the pandemic threat is going to be around for many more months.

And countries can’t afford to wait that long to restart economic activity. Governments can’t afford the long wait; people won’t stand for it. One way or another, quarantined areas will have to start reopening.

In several places including certain US states, it looks like people prefer to deal with the immediate and palpable loss of livelihoods ASAP than the uncertain threat posed by a viral infection, lethal as it is.

Except for some sectors such as food and pharmaceuticals, businesses around the world from micro enterprises to behemoths are hurting. The oil industry is in a tailspin; alcohol and bottled water are more expensive than gasoline. German flag carrier Lufthansa, the second largest airline in Europe, is said to be losing $1 million per hour and is seeking a government bailout, with 700 of its 760 planes grounded by the pandemic.

Several brick-and-mortar retailers, already hurting from online competition, are folding up. US apparel retail giant J. Crew, which has incurred $1.6 billion in debt, has filed for bankruptcy.

Even our industry is battered. Melinda Quintos de Jesus of the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility, who spoke with “The Chiefs” the other night on Cignal TV’s One News, said about half of the members of the Philippine Press Institute, mostly small newspaper and radio organizations, have been forced to shut down by the pandemic.

(ABS-CBN was ordered to cease broadcasting yesterday by the National Telecommunications Commission after its franchise lapsed on May 4, but as we all know, this is another story.)

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In the US, with 1.21 million cases of coronavirus disease 2019 and 69,680 deaths as of yesterday – nearly a third of the global death toll –  it seems insane that Americans are aggressively defying stay-at-home orders, even with their COVID-19 testing capability still inadequate. But people seem more worried about their financial health, and the “what, me worry?” attitude must be more deeply ingrained among fun-loving Americans than we think.

Yesterday there was a report that if quarantine and distancing protocols would be lifted too early, the US could see an average death toll of 3,000 a day by June.

But fatalism is not unique to Pinoys: if we’re gonna die, we’re gonna die.

Despite the death tolls abroad, people quarantined in the Philippines are becoming antsier, as we see other countries beginning to get their lives back.

Like inmates, people in Metro Manila and other areas under enhanced community quarantine are counting down to May 15, when the ECQ is supposed to end.

The spokesman for the Department of the Interior and Local Government, Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya, said there were strong indications that the ECQ in Metro Manila could already be eased after May 15.

Malacañang moved quickly to temper expectations, stressing that the decision on whether or not to ease Metro Manila into a general community quarantine or GCQ is still over a week away.

At least seven local government units within the ECQ are reportedly requesting for its further extension after May 15. Mayor Toby Tiangco of Navotas is placing his city under “extreme” or hard lockdown starting today until May 15, while Mayor Francis Zamora of San Juan told The Chiefs that he would likely seek another extension of the ECQ in his city.

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Still, we can see people taking it upon themselves to begin reopening for business, without waiting for the ECQ to be lifted. Establishments that under ECQ rules are not supposed to resume operations, such as barber shops, are beginning to reopen their doors, literally – although only partly, with steel folding door gates or rolling doors just open enough for people to peek in and see that goods or services are available.

Many fast food chain outlets are reopening, although only for take-out and drive-through orders. It’s probably dawning on the operators that it’s going to take time before dining establishments are allowed to accept dine-in customers, so they might as well ease into the new way of doing business. Operations will be limited, but it’s better than being shuttered.

I’ve spotted repair shops for vehicles and household appliances reopening, together with general merchandise stores offering “Divisoria prices.” There are ambulant vendors of washable face masks everywhere.

Also, there are more ambulant vendors selling food items such as fruits, vegetables and eggs along sidewalks. Quarantine enforcers aren’t heartless; as long as the vendors (and their customers) observe physical distancing and everyone wears face masks, the vendors are allowed to operate.

A vaccine against COVID – if one is found without the controversy that accompanied anti-dengue vaccine Dengvaxia – is still over a year away. A cure is possible for mass distribution no earlier than September.

COVID is here to stay, and we must all learn to live with the constant threat of the killer coronavirus, keeping it at bay through physical distancing, wearing of face masks and other protective equipment, regular hand washing and the use of thermal scanners in public areas.

All these measures will be part of the new normal, together with security checks for guns and explosives, which were institutionalized at airports and other public places after the terrorist attacks in the US on Sept. 11, 2001.

We have no choice, however, but to open up gradually, even if our COVID testing capability still needs more ramping up.

Between my house and newspaper office, I shop almost daily in different supermarket chains and public markets. While some items have been amply replenished, such as 70 percent ethyl alcohol and toilet paper, even the largest supermarket chains are running out of many processed food items produced locally, such as certain types of popular snacks, instant noodles, sardines and cheeses.

My favorite fresh carabao milk from Nueva Ecija disappeared from supermarket shelves weeks ago. I wonder how the dairy farmers of that province and Laguna are faring in this pandemic. Grocery shelves are increasingly becoming empty.

Each passing day makes the quarantine untenable.