Waiting for recovery

The world is gradually, inexorably dealing with the societal change brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. The countries which had to deal with it first, like China, are coping and showing other nations how to mitigate its spread. Meanwhile, citizens of countries like the Philippines are finally accepting the seriousness of the situation, and are forced to grow up fast. Despite attempts to skew it to the contrary, the majority of Filipinos now realize it is not a political matter. It is a fight for survival, and extraordinary measures must be taken. We need discipline, period. Like the conspirators of Shakespeare’s take on Julius Caesar, the ides of March was a turning point in our lives.

So what happens now? There are varying projections calendaring when life will supposedly return to normal. Some say August, others say October. For the US, the forecast is that recovery could take up to 18 months. That may seem overly pessimistic, but nobody really knows. For many of us, the greatest challenge we face is boredom, like children on a timeout, made to stand in a corner. All our toys were taken away.

Meanwhile, leagues, teams and athletes are writing off the next two to three months, as the word lies in a holding pattern. There is no clear decision yet regarding the holding of the Tokyo Olympics within the year. Training is being modified from heading towards a peak to maintaining competitiveness. This will surely impact the number of records that will be broken should the Games push through this calendar year.

At first blush, people are instinctively alarmed by the reported increase of COVID-19 cases in the country. But when you think about it, many of these people were likely exposed to the virus before the quarantine was imposed. There is a natural lag from the disease’s incubation period.  Also, more and more testing kits means we are revealing the infected, separating the wheat from the chaff. If we cooperate, the number should decline as the virus will have nowhere to go, and will perish.

What will happen when the cases decline and people are allowed some semblance of normalcy?

There will probably be a short wait and see period before the public starts to seek out things to do and places to go to. Amateur sports will have an easier time, since school authorities can unilaterally decide whether or not to resume their sports competitions and salvage some advertising and television revenue. Professional leagues will take longer to recover. The great majority of their paying spectators have had no income in weeks, and spent their funds to stock up on food, water, masks, alcohol, vitamins, sanitizing materials and so on. Though the television audience is there, crowds at venues will take a while to return to healthy levels, as people have to recover lost income.

In an amusing attempt to stay sharp, forget about having zero income, and keep entertained, local sports broadcasters are turning their attention towards the mundane. Some of us are surreptitiously recording ourselves doing commentary on people waiting in line, insects crawling around our homes, and the likes. Unrestrained by broadcast rules, some of these are downright hilarious. The creativity brought about by abject boredom would make a great TV show. There’s a thought. 

It is a gift to be able to find humor in every situation. We all need it. Stay safe, everyone.