ECQ, still

(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.)

I didn’t write yesterday. I was too stressed out waiting for the President to make an announcement about what happens after April 30, which is when the ECQ is scheduled to end. He was supposed to go on air at 6 p.m., but surprise, surprise --- it didn't happen.

Still, that was a record for me - 41 consecutive days of writing about life under the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) imposed over Luzon.

I realize now that I have it wrong. I started writing what has become a sort of journal because I did not want to forget the radical shift in our lives as caused by the coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19). 

In hindsight, I was stupid to think that we could go back to our lives after an unspecified length of time. Maybe I should start writing about life BEFORE March 15, because it looks like this day-to-day existence is what we can look forward to, as long as there is no vaccine against COVID-19.

Broadcast institutions aired this morning a recorded announcement of the President which effectively extends the ECQ in high-risk areas like Metro Manila to May 15, 2020. Other areas too numerous to mention are included.

The moderate- and low-risk areas are luckier. Their quarantine status has been downgraded to General Community Quarantine (GCQ) effective May 1, 2020, pending more detailed guidelines from the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on the management of emerging infectious diseases.

How different is GCQ from ECQ?

For GCQ areas, movement will no longer be restricted to one person per household. Those with ages 21 to 59 will be allowed to move around as long as they have a face mask, an ID and observe social distancing.  

Restricted mall opening covering non-leisure shops will be allowed as long as they do the mandatory temperature check, restrict entry to those with face masks and provide alcohol for disinfection. This includes supermarkets, drugstores, banks, laundry service shops, restaurants (for takeout or delivery only) and hardware stores.

                                                                                                   

Priority and essential construction projects will be allowed to resume, subject to minimum health standards, physical distancing and barracks for workers. Public transportation will operate at reduced capacity. Local government units (LGUs) will enforce curfew at night for non-workers.

Industries are categorized to determine the level of workforce that will be allowed to work: 

• Category 1 (100% workforce) includes agriculture, fisheries and forestry, food manufacturing and supply chain, food retail (supermarkets, restaurants for delivery and take out only), health care (hospitals, clinics and drugstores), logistics, water, energy, Internet, telecommunications and media.
• Category 2 (50-100% workforce allowed) covers other manufacturing (electronics, exports), e-commerce and delivery for essential and non-essential items, repair and maintenance services, housing and office services
• Category 3 (50% workforce on-site; 50% work from home) includes Financial services, BPO, other non-leisure services and wholesale and retail trade.

There were more guidelines but I ran out of steam. Besides, President Duterte started getting angry, threatening to enforce martial law and to kill all members of the New People's Army in the two years he has left as president. 

He also started calling critic and Senator Antonio Trillanes names before turning melancholic about the burden he bears as president. I got very distracted.

Hubby asks me why I am taking note of the less stringent guidelines under GCQ. He reminds me that we are under ECQ. This means that there is no change for us. We will only know if we have finally satisfied all of the parameters to be re-classified as under GCQ come May 16, 2020.

I am an optimist. What can I say?

DoH update: As of 4 p.m. of April 24, 2020, the Philippines has reported 7,192 confirmed corona virus cases, including 762 recoveries and 477 deaths.

ECQ Violations

(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.)

I was hoping it would not come to this. The barangay outside our village gate is now under total lockdown. This means I will no longer be able to get our seafood, fruits and vegetables there.

In a news report posted online just a while ago, the barangay chief says they requested more than 60 personnel from the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to assist them in the enforcement of lockdown measures. The total lockdown is effective until April 30, 2020.

The report does not say why, but it might be because government has intensified the drive against those caught violating ECQ protocols. As of April 20, 2020, the PNP counts 136,517 lockdown violators since the lockdown began mid-March. Of that number, 31,363 have been arrested, 6,168 fined, and 98,986 issued warnings.

The violations include non-observance of curfew hours, non-wearing of face masks outside the home and inability to present a quarantine pass.

The penalties have varied. Some of those caught violating ECQ rules were made to undergo an orientation on the importance of staying at home and observing social distancing, etc. 

Others were made to do push-ups and other body exercises, clean the streets, repack goods for distribution among the beneficiaries of the Social Amelioration Program, plant vegetables in the city nursery, among others.

In a desperate bid to impress upon them the gravity of their violations, one police official in Bacoor City, Cavite even brought 81 offenders to the cemetery.

"Bakit andito kayo sa sementeryo? Dahil ang lugar na ito ang pinaka-safe na lang dito na hindi tayo magkahawa-hawa. Kahit ano gawin niyo hindi na makakahawa ang mga patay na 'yan. Gusto niyong sumunod dyan? (Why are you here in the cemetery? You are safest here because whatever you do, you can no longer infect the dead. Do you want to be like them)?” he said in exasperation.

Some local government officials have resorted to extreme, controversial methods: incarcerating offenders in a dog cage in Barangay Gatid, Sta Cruz, Laguna; making them sit in the intense midday sun in Parañaque City, forcibly cutting their hair in Binondo, Manila and locking them up in a coffin in Cavite.

Even before the total lockdown, the road that runs through the barangay has been closed to vehicles. However, food stalls and stores, as well as two wet markets, along this street continue to draw buyers. Maybe that’s why reinforcements have been called in.

The news report quotes the barangay chief as saying that one member per household will still be allowed to do a food and/or medicine run as long as they wear a face mask and bring their quarantine pass. 

I am almost tempted to find out if given our proximity, we will still be allowed to enter the barangay. Almost, but not quite.

DoH update: As of 4 p.m. of April 22, 2020, the Philippines has reported 6,710 confirmed corona virus cases, including 693 recoveries and 446 deaths.

Face Mask model

(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.)

At the start of the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ), I did not wear a face mask when I stepped out of the house.

I heeded reports and public advisories, including the Department of Health’s (DoH), that said there is no need to wear one if one is not sick. I am also very mindful of the lack of face masks for medical personnel and figured that they need them more.

I did see more and more people in the groceries and markets wearing them or more accurately, wearing various versions of them. The turning point was when a military person stopped me in the wet market and politely asked me why I was not wearing one.

I told him that that I am just following DoH advice, that I am aware that frontliners like doctors and nurses and security officers like him need them more. He hesitated, but asked me firmly to wear one. I did not argue.

I dug out the surgical mask that we kept in our First Aid kit, but realized I could not wear that more than once.

AFP photo

I did not have to worry. Once it became apparent that we were not going to be able to enter grocery stores without face masks, vendors along the street outside our village gate started selling homemade, washable ones.

The cheapest went for P20 a piece; the sturdier ones cost P35 each.

I remember the first time I bought one. I was eyeing some fruits on a stall along the street when I notice cloth masks hanging nearby. When he sees me taking a closer look at the face masks, a young guy approaches me.

“Face mask, ma’am. P35 lang, maganda (beautiful),” he offers. When he sees me eyeing the surgical-looking ones that cost P20 a piece, he says, “Puwede rin yan, ma’am. Seksi yan (You can also get those. They’re sexy).”

By this time, I can tell he is gay. I turn to him in confusion. “Sexy? A sexy face mask?”

Photo c/o Ferdelyn Tabbay in ABS-CBN report

“Para lang yang bra (It’s just like a bra), ma’am. Eto, fully protected ka. Kitams (See)?” He fashions two cloth masks over his chest like a bra top and turns.

He then picks up the surgical-looking P20 face masks and replaces the cloth ones on his chest. “Eto, see-through kaya seksi,” he explains, to the amusement of fellow vendors nearby and anyone within hearing.

I have to laugh. “Ano ba talaga binebenta mo (What are you really selling), face mask o bra?”

“Manggaaaahh!!” he says with a flourish, sashaying down an imaginary catwalk in front of his display of mangoes on a nearby table.

He is hilarious. I buy two “sexy” face masks (because I did not like the color and  design of the cloth kind hehehe) from the real vendor and two kilos of mango from my enterprising gay friend.

I’ve seen a lot of YouTube tutorials on do-it-yourself face masks since then, and I have been meaning to make one.

Just recently, my sister showed us one she sewed by hand. It is plain and simple, just like I want and very much unlike the busy-looking ones outside.

I may just get around to it, unless the vendor outside comes up with new stock just like hers and his saleswoman of a friend models it for me.

DoH update: As of 4 p.m. of April 21, 2020, the Philippines has reported 6,599 confirmed corona virus cases, including 654 recoveries and 437 deaths.

A Reunion (of sorts)

(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.)

The idea came up every now and then, but we never got around to seeing each other. Until now.

Earlier today, my batch mates and I met online. It’s been (mumble) years since we graduated from college. Two of them are in Chicago, one in Canada and four of us in the Philippines. There are three more who cannot join us, but we hope to see them next week.

Seeing their faces makes me wish we’d really made the effort during our younger years. I can imagine us meeting in a restaurant, eating good food, then transferring to a coffee shop and having great cake and pastries.

All the time, we’d be laughing and reminiscing, and undoubtedly getting a few frowns or tolerant smiles from those seated in the tables next to us.

We are still noisy, but four of us in the Philippines are sweating in the summer heat in our homes. It is dark for two, because it is night where they are. The one in Canada left early on to cook dinner.

One stays online while cooking breakfast and we tease her about her negligee as we catch glimpses of it when she moves around, preparing food. Those who just got out of bed are thankful that no smell, good or bad, comes across the Internet.

We greet one who is celebrating her birthday. We sing despite the absence of a cake. Maybe it's a good thing. At our age, there would have been too many candles anyway. 😅

We start by giving updates about ourselves. We are familiar with some of the stories because all of us have FB accounts, but it is good to hear details. It’s been a long time since we last talked.

It is when we start going into familiar territory that the fun begins. Some of our memories are accurate, and some downright funny. Our only guy starts singing the song we sang at the "Pasko sa UP" choral competition and the rest of us join him. 

One starts playing with the filters on her phone and I soon get burgers and pineapples and what looks like an '80s sweat band. There is much laughing and teasing. This lasts for about an hour before reality intrudes and we sign off.

It’s all right. There is still so much to talk about and we are not going anywhere under this lockdown.

DoH update: As of 4 p.m. of April 20, 2020, the Philippines has reported 6,459 confirmed corona virus cases, including 613 recoveries and 428 deaths.

Tiktok

(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.)

Oh my goodness. I can barely breathe.

The company that my husband works for asks its employees, who are working from home, to do stuff that is supposed to help break the monotony of home quarantine and keep depression at bay.

At first, they are asked to post a picture of something creative, which earns a few laughs here and there and much ribbing. As intended, the stuff submitted provides a lot of comic relief.

After that, they are asked to sing a certain song and submit a video of them doing it, which is later edited into a compilation of all of them doing the song.

DJ Loonyo (YouTube)

This week, they are asked to film themselves doing the Frontliners Dance Challenge as popularized by DJ Loonyo, a dancer/ choreographer over TikTok. The short video is set to the music “Fight Song” by Rachel Platten.

Not only is hubby nearing retirement age, he has two left feet and no sense of rhythm. He has heard of TikTok but has not downloaded the app. Nonetheless, he checks out the link his office gives him then turns to me for help. I have to take a video of him doing the dance challenge.

Of course, I oblige. What are wives for?

He studies the moves. Tries them out. Studies the moves. Tries ever so hard. I can’t help it. I study the moves. I dance with him. I feel like crying. I actually cry, from laughing so hard. So does he.

I can barely contain my laughter and keep the camera still while recording him. Again. Again, and yet again. It does not seem like we are getting anywhere with this, but we persist. We are having too much of a good time.

Whoever it is in their company who thought of this is on to something. It's certainly taken our mind off COVID-19, even for just a few hours.

DoH update: As of 4 p.m. of April 19, 2020, the Philippines has reported 6,259 confirmed corona virus cases, including 572 recoveries and 409 deaths.