The week in review (March 30 to April 5, 2020)

(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.)

March 31, 2020

National Task Force (NTF) COVID-19 chief implementer, Peace Process Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. says the government is preparing to carry out “massive testing” of persons under monitoring (PUM) and persons under investigation (PUI) for the novel coronavirus, as well as health workers on the front lines of battling the pandemic. On April 2, he sets the target date for the start of the testing on April 14.

April 1, 2020

Hungry protest

Residents of Sitio San Roque in Barangay Bagong Pag-asa, Quezon City take to the streets to protest a lack of supplies, saying they have yet to receive food packs since the lockdown started March 17.  

Twenty-one people are arrested by Quezon City police and face multiple charges. Bail is set at P15,000. On April 3, Frankie Pangilinan tweets she will sponsor bail for one. The daughter of Senator Francis Pangilinan and “Megastar” Sharon Cuneta follows it up with another tweet, saying her parents will pay bail for the remaining 20.

That night, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte accuses leftist groups of stirring public sentiment against the government during the coronavirus crisis and warns them that if they cause trouble or put lives in danger, he wouldn't hesitate to order authorities to "shoot them dead."

Free coronavirus treatment

The Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) says it will continue to cover expenses of patients with coronavirus disease (COVID-19) until April 14.

#ProtectVico

National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Deputy Director Ferdinand Lavin announces they have summoned Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto "for disobeying national government policies or directives in imposing quarantines." #ProtectVico tops the Twitter trending topic worldwide shortly after.

Interior and Local Government Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya calls the NBI’s invitation to Sotto “a useless, political distraction.”  He cites Justice Menardo Guevarra who points out that Vico’s alleged violation of the Bayanihan Act was done prior to the passage of the Bayanihan Act.

Vico already cooperated with the DILG and banned the use of tricycles as public transportation in compliance with IATF guidelines on March 19, days before the Bayanihan Act was signed into law on March 24.

April 2, 2020

Longer hours

The Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on the management of emerging infectious diseases urges all supermarkets, pharmacies, and other similar establishments to operate up to 12 hours to give residents more time to purchase essential goods. The IATF also suggests scheduled market days per sector, barangay, or purok among other possible solutions to people spending long hours outside their homes when they should be on home quarantine.

Face masks required

Luzon residents are now required to wear face masks or improvised face shields when leaving their homes to work or buy essential goods. They can use “earloop masks, indigenous, reusable or do-it-yourself masks, face shields, handkerchiefs, or such other protective equipment that can effectively lessen the transmission of COVID-19,” says Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles, who also speaks for the IATF.

National Quarantine Centers

Nograles says the Philippine International Convention Center and the Ninoy Aquino Stadium inside the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex will be fully functional by April 10 while the World Trade Center will be ready by April 12.

These national quarantine centers are being set up to decongest hospitals overwhelmed with the rising number of COVID-19 cases. They are being retrofitted to separately house patients with milder symptoms and potential carriers awaiting tests or test results.

Others also being eyed as quarantine facilities are: Quezon Institute; Duty-Free Philippines, Parañaque; Amoranto Stadium in Quezon City; Quezon Memorial Circle and Veterans Memorial Medical Center complex. Bases and Conversion Development Authority President and chief executive officer Vince Dizon says the cost of setting up the quarantine facilities were shouldered by private partners.

On April 4, the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) agrees to let the government use its Ciudad de Victoria estate as a quarantine facility. The 75-hectare complex in Bocaue, Bulacan includes the Philippine Arena, the Philippine Sports Stadium, and several other facilities that can house patients and medical staff. Once readied, the whole complex will have an estimated 1,065 rooms for patients, while frontliners will be able to share 476 suites good for 2 to 4 health workers each. 

No Competition

President Rodrigo Duterte sacks Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) Commissioner Manuelito Luna for issuing a statement that the NBI should investigate Vice President Leni Robredo for "competing" with the national government. He says that Robredo’s efforts to help frontliners “compete with, or are calculated to undermine, National Government efforts in this time of public health emergency or national calamity."

"As of this moment, he's no longer connected with government," Duterte says in a late night speech.

April 3, 2020

U.P. Test Kits

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approves the test kits developed by the University of the Philippines-National Institute of Health (UP-NIH).

 

The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) says Manila HealthTek Inc. will prioritize for manufacturing 1,300 test kits funded by the DOST and the UP National Institutes of Health project that can accommodate 26,000 tests.

These will be distributed to the following hospitals from April 4 to 25: Philippine General Hospital, Manila; Makati Medical Center; The Medical City, Pasig City; Baguio General Hospital; Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center, Cebu City; and Southern Philippines Medical Center, Davao City.

Other hospitals may buy UP NIH test kits for the second rollout, which could process 94,000 tests. Each costs around P1,300 per kit, which is cheaper than those being sold in hospitals at around P8,000.

Rapid Pass

The “RapidPassPH” System is introduced. The system aims to address heavy queuing, while minimizing human contact between those passing through and those manning the checkpoints. The system, which uses QR code-based technology to speed up the entry of frontliners and the delivery of essential goods like food and medicine, is scheduled for rollout on April 6, initially in 56 checkpoints in Metro Manila.

April 4, 2020

Parameters

The (IATF) says the decision on a possible extension, as well as the partial or total lifting of the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine depends on the following:

• Trends in the COVID-19 epidemiological curve, which include, among others, the doubling time, acceleration, or deceleration of new cases;
• Capacity of the health care system, which includes, among others, the number and availability of quarantine, isolation, and treatment facilities; the capability to mount contact tracing; availability of Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) to frontliners, and the testing capacity of the country;
• Social factors;
• Economic factors; and
• Security factors

Discrimination vs. frontliners

The IATF warns that acts of discrimination inflicted upon healthcare workers, OFWs, COVID-19 cases, whether confirmed or suspected, recovered or undergoing treatment, as well as patients under investigation and persons under monitoring “will be dealt with criminally, civilly, and/or administratively.” The task force also urges local government units to issue executive orders or enact ordinances “prohibiting and penalizing these discriminatory acts.”

Intellectual Liar

In a late night speech, President Duterte lashes out at human rights lawyer Chel Diokno for taking on as client, one of those being investigated by the NBI for taking to social media and posting about the "alleged misuse of government funds" related to the response to contain the spread of the coronavirus. 

The President mocks Diokno’s failed senatorial bid, poking fun at his appearance, and calling him an "intellectual liar."

Salary aid

A majority of Cabinet members have pledged to voluntarily donate 75 percent of their monthly salary to aid the government’s fight against the COVID-19, says Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles.

April 5, 2020

Chinese doctors

Medical experts from China arrive in the Philippines to assist and advise the Philippine government on efforts to address the outbreak of the COVID-19. The 12-man medical team seeks to provide technical advice on epidemic prevention and control, as well as share medical treatment experience.

DoH update: As of 4 p.m. of April 5, 2020, the Philippines has reported 3,246 confirmed corona virus cases, including 64 recoveries and 152 deaths.

Oh, the curtains

(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 start noticing where broadcast interviews and reports are made on March 23, 2020, when the House of Representatives hold a special session to vote on House Bill (HB) No. 6616, which declares a “state of national emergency” and grants President Rodrigo Duterte special powers to address the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. 

screen grab showing some of the congressmen
participating via zoom teleconferencing

It's their first-ever virtual session with only 20 House members physically present and 279 more participating online via Zoom teleconferencing.

We are entertained by the glimpse they offer into their homes. Some look very professional in a home office setup with bookshelves behind them; some opt for a plain white wall.

We wonder if the walls behind two of them are as bold in real life as they appear on TV – yellow and red. Others sit before a painting or wall art; two before religious icons. One is surrounded by a collection of fabrics that we presume represents his district, and one has a collection of family photos.

“I think he’s sitting at the dining table,” daughter says, pointing out the buffet cabinet on which a ceramic fruit basket stands. Over it is an ornate mirror flanked by decorative plates.

Another one is obviously on some sort of patio, with greenery behind her. One has closet doors behind him, while many sit before window treatments that vary from blinds to shades to curtains.

It is the swags and tails curtains that get us. “He HAS to be in the bedroom,” I say when my daughter starts laughing at the elaborate tassel-fringed blue and white window treatment behind one.

We get more of these window treatments when news reports show both interviewer and interviewee in their respective homes.

“Parang alam ko kung saang karinderya ko nakita yang kurtinang yan (I think I remember in which eatery I saw those curtains),” jokes broadcast journalist Ted Failon at seeing reporter Raya Capulong framed by lacy white curtains.

Doris Bigornia "fakes" a red satin robe
with a silk blouse.

We are tickled pink when journalist Doris Bigornia responds to co-host Alvin Elchico's challenge to wear a red satin night robe by broadcasting from her bed wearing what looks like one, but which she later clarifies is a silk blouse.

She balks when he asks her to distance herself from the camera because she is just wearing shorts.

It’s trivial, I know, but it provides for some relief in a day tuned into news. When one is confined to the home for as long as we have been, it can get depressing.

I guess it’s our way of coping with a spate of news that tells me we are not leaving our homes any time soon.

DoH update: As of 4 p.m. of April 4, 2020, the Philippines has reported 3,094 confirmed corona virus cases, including 57 recoveries and 144 deaths.

Rapid pass

(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.)

Today, the government announces the rapid pass system.

In the words of Cabinet Secretary and Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) for the management of Emerging Infectious Diseases Spokesperson Karlo Nograles, the rapid pass system is designed to minimize contact between health frontliners and others authorized to work outside their homes, from those manning the checkpoints.

During the IATF virtual presscon aired over PTV, Nograles says the system revolves around the assignment of a QR code to every individual exempted from the lockdown and/or delivery truck carrying essential cargo, which will be scanned at checkpoints equipped with smartphones.

Smart Communications, Inc. and parent company Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. donated 200 Samsung A10 phones that police personnel at the checkpoints can immediately use to scan the QR codes/rapid pass to check their validity against data provided by approving agencies.

RapidPass is a project of DCTx (DEVCON Community of Technology Experts), a volunteer-based global community working with the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) to develop digital solutions that will help government response efforts to the COVID-19 pandemic.

DCTx Founder Winston Damarillo says they have some 929 Filipino developers not only based in the country, but also as far as Ireland, Silicon Valley, Chicago, etc. DCTx is organized and led by Developers Connect Philippines (DEVCON), a non-profit entity that syncs, supports, and champions the success of Filipino developers. The group developed rapid pass as an open source software to enable its use for free.

Damarillo adds that those who want to apply for a rapid pass can register at a link which will be operational by Monday, April 6, 2020 (said link has been deactivated as of 2023). Information will also be made available via the group’s FB account.

Implementation is initially limited to over 50 checkpoints in Metro Manila. There are suggestions that those already issued IATF identification cards will automatically be encoded into the rapid pass system.

Once implemented, the rapid pass system will speed up the flow of goods from the provinces to their markets. There are reports of food deliveries unable to get past checkpoints, prompting Government to have the Philippine National Police (PNP) take over those installed along the national and provincial roads.

More importantly, the system minimizes human contact and consequently, chances of exposure to and transmission of the novel corona virus, while allowing for the movement of essential workers, services, products and goods.

I think this is going to be part of the new normal.

DoH update: As of 4 p.m. of April 3, 2020, the Philippines has reported 3,018 confirmed corona virus cases, including 52 recoveries and 136 deaths.

The new normal

(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.)

Now that we are well into our third week of the lockdown in Luzon, attention has turned to what will happen on April 14, when the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) is scheduled to end.

It’s being referred to as the “new normal”, which is anybody’s guess.

I thought this was the new normal – living from day to day at home, with only one member given a pass to provide or access basic goods and services; no public transportation; no school; no work for most of those living under the poverty line and this paranoia not to touch anything or anyone lest you get infected with the novel corona virus.

There are talks of a gradual lifting of the lockdown. A technical working group of the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) has been formed to set the parameters in determining the total or partial lifting of the ECQ. It will be led by the Department of Health (DoH).

DoH Secretary Francisco Duque says it’s too early to tell, given that the number of infected cases is not reflective of the true COVID-19 situation in the country since not all persons under monitoring or under investigation have been tested.

If we are to go the way of China, which is the only country that has eased its lockdown (initially in parts of the Hubei Province last March 25, with the provincial capital Wuhan to follow on April 8), the determining factor is the consistent decrease in the number of infected cases.

Fears remain, however, that lifting the restrictions may release thousands of people who could still be spreading the virus that causes COVID-19, without knowing they are sick. China’s health authorities do not count as confirmed cases those patients who test positive but don’t show symptoms.

There is no cure for COVID-19 yet, so there is a real possibility of a new wave of infections once the lockdown is totally lifted in China.

Our Health department is understandably cautious about lifting the lockdown here, totally or partially, because there is a backlog in terms of tests to be conducted to determine COVID-19. 

Just yesterday, Presidential Peace Adviser Carlito Galvez Jr., chief implementer at the National Task Force on COVID-19, said mass testing of persons under monitoring and those under investigation is scheduled to start on April 14 yet.

Only then can government identify the COVID-19 carriers, isolate and treat them, he adds.

Logic then tells us that the lockdown should not be lifted by April 14, but our stomachs and pockets are telling us otherwise. 

Photo: CNN Philippines

Just last April 1, Quezon City police arrested residents of Sitio San Roque who staged a protest to demand help from the government. They claimed that they had not received any food or relief packs since the start of the lockdown.

Government is scrambling to implement a social amelioration program with cash doleouts and food packs that are slow in coming, and an emergency employment program that basically asks those from the informal sector who have been unable to work because of the lockdown to clean their barangays.

Now, it looks like government is leaning towards a measured response with those infected and possible carriers quarantined in large-scale facilities that are being converted into COVID-19 community quarantine centers like the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex in Manila, World Trade Center in Pasay City and the Philippine International Convention Center Forum Halls for starters.

Presumably, what will be enacted are targeted quarantines, while measures like social distancing, hand washing, the wearing of face masks and the suspension of activities encouraging mass gatherings will continue even as government revives economic activity.

Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles, who speaks for the IATF, says it all depends on the science.  

Let’s see.

DoH update: As of 4 p.m. of April 2, 2020, the Philippines has reported 2,633 confirmed corona virus cases, including 51 recoveries and 107 deaths.

What we do

(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.)

This probably should have been one of my earlier posts.

At the start of the lockdown, my main concern was to stock up on food, water and medicine; control and monitor consumption; and maintain inventory.

This is what I do on any given day since I am a housewife. Even if we have help, I am the one who cooks and buys what we need. This is why it is my name that is on the quarantine pass.

The difference under the lockdown is that I am careful to limit food runs. I have to minimize exposure to the novel corona virus and the chances of getting not only myself infected, but also the rest of the household.

The line to the grocery store extends
into the street.

When I do go out, I put on the required face mask and am careful to put some distance between myself and the next person.

I realize that I must not only get enough of what we need, I have to make it last longer. I ration food, and I can do this because I am not only the cook, I am Mommy. Try complaining and you don’t eat. Ha ha.

I keep a few snacks on hand, but I will not replenish until it is time for the next food run. Neither will I look for what is not available. Snacks are just whatever junk food is left on the shelves, even if they are not my family’s favorite brand. They get eaten anyway.

At first, I did not think snacks were essential but I soon realize that it is the only luxury left to us and frankly, something we all enjoy. A meal is a meal. A bag of Boy Bawang is a bonus.

My husband is one of the fortunate ones who is working from home. At first, I thought this meant being on call, literally just responding to calls or emails intermittently throughout the day. I am surprised to find him putting in a full day’s work every day since the lockdown.

“What EXACTLY do you do?” I ask when I find him in yet another teleconference. He barely emerges from the bedroom where he has set up office except to check if there’s a bag of chips left in the snack basket.

I am surprised that I do not find my daughter online or in front of the TV as much as I thought she would be. Her chores are minimal so she does have a lot of time on her hands. I find her reading or drawing or lately, doing some embroidery.

There is no moving-up ceremony or graduation for her and I guess, most students. There is a semblance of closure, though, since her student council put together a slideshow meant to replace the actual ceremony. The slideshow not only parades all of their photos in clusters, it also includes messages from their teachers and the student council president.

Before this, I had not entirely looked forward to attending the moving-up ceremony because parking is difficult in her school, traffic can get horrible, and seats are hard to find if you do not go early. Now, I watch the slideshow and tear up.

Other than that, it's routine. Between the help and myself, we keep the house spic and span, everyone fed and in clean and laundered clothes, the plants watered, and the dogs bathed – all the time tuned in to the news, whether it’s on TV, radio and/or the Internet. Only our daughter tunes out. She listens to music.

Weekends are different.  We either watch a movie or TV series on Netflix and/or play games. Right now, it’s “Taboo” - a word, guessing, and party game where the objective is for a player to have their partners guess the word on the player's card without using the word itself or five additional words listed on the card.

There is a lot of laughing and arguing and more laughing. Hubby and I realize that daughter’s vocabulary is rather wide and she is skillful at building a good description of the word that must be guessed without using the prohibited five synonyms or words associated with it.

We catch each other’s eye and we smile. Yes, we should have more of these moments when we interact with each other as a family. All too soon, it is time to attend Mass streamed live from the Manila Cathedral.

But before we stop playing, hubby asks that we play “Monopoly” next time. There’s a reason I did not take up Economics or a Business course. It’s the same reason I do not want to play said board game.

Mommy is mommy. It’s “Pictionary” next time. 😜

DoH update: As of 4 p.m. of April 1, 2020, the Philippines has reported 2,311 confirmed corona virus cases, including 50 recoveries and 96 deaths.