Day by day

(Part of an ongoing account started on March 13, 2020 of how the spread of COVID-19 in our country and our government’s response has affected our lives.)

We are going into our fourth week under the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) in Luzon.

I think I am beginning to see signs of psychosis.

Hubby asks if we can order food from McDonald’s.  I stare at him. The popular fastfood chain suspended delivery to our area at the start of the lockdown.  He argues that food outlets still make deliveries. “Yes, but not McDonald’s. At least, not here,” I tell him.

Home-cooked fried chicken: cheaper, safer

Besides, we should stretch our funds, I remind him, because there’s not going to be any cash aid or relief packs for the middle-income group. Not only are home-cooked meals cheaper, they’re safer because they do not come from hands that have been all over the place delivering food to other people, I add.

Of course, he knows this. He just wishes things were different.

Later in the afternoon, he emerges from his “office” and says he is going for a walk. I sigh and remind him of the association guidelines that say all the parks have been closed and can the residents please refrain from walking/hiking or jogging.

I understand that he needs to get out of the house so I give him our quarantine pass (our barangay says two names can be on the pass as long as it’s used alternately) and a face mask and ask him to buy some eggs from the food vendors just outside the village gate. He looks at the face mask and changes his mind.

Just the other day, daughter asked about school. Huh? Is this the girl who asks me if classes are suspended at the first sign of rain? I tease her. We laugh about it, but I check the school’s FB account and come up empty.

Hubby and I wonder when the President or the Inter-Agency Task Force on the management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) will announce what will happen after April 14, which is when the ECQ is scheduled to end.

We are both resigned to an extension of two weeks, at the very least. I try not to think about it. I just go from day to day.

“When all this is over, I bet the malls will be overflowing with people just wanting to get out of the house,” he says.

I disagree. I think people will be cautious about going out. There’s no cure for COVID-19 and since not everyone is going to be tested, you never know if you’re going to get into contact with someone who’s asymptomatic.

This is why I believe that even when the lockdown is lifted, partially or totally, we will still have to maintain social distancing. We will still be asked to refrain from activities that will encourage gatherings.

It will be life, but it will be different. As I said, I try not to think about it. I just go from day to day.

P.S. The President just went on air, but I think I will turn in now. I will just read what he said later, without the embellishments.

DoH update: As of 4 p.m. of April 6, 2020, the Philippines has reported 3,660 confirmed corona virus cases, including 73 recoveries and 163 deaths.