Big noses

(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 ask hubby what he misses most from life before the Luzon lockdown.

“Ramen,” he says then, “Eating out.”

I raise an eyebrow at him. “I expected Nanay (mother) to be in there somewhere,” I tell him.

He waves a hand dismissively. “She's first, of course! That goes without saying.”

When daughter gets up later, I ask her the same thing over breakfast. “Friends,” she says immediately. She stays up late to go online with friends, sometimes for a Dungeons and Dragons session. It is fun, but not quite the same as when they are all in the same room playing, she says.

Monopoly

(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 could not write yesterday. I was languishing in jail. Monopoly jail, that is.

Despite earlier pronouncements, I gave in to INSISTENT demand and played Monopoly, a classic fast-dealing property trading board game.

It’s my first time playing Monopoly so I just buy everything I can, even the “cheap” ones that hubby snubs. When I land in jail, the rent they pay for landing on my properties keeps me afloat. Haha!!!

I do get out of jail eventually, but the little money I have left is spent paying hubby and daughter rent when I land on THEIR properties. 

My luck takes a turn for the worst when I get chance or community chest cards that just require me to pay taxes or fines so I am actually relieved when I throw the dice and I am sent back to jail.

This is not my idea of fun.  But it is hard not to laugh when my daughter, who plays Monopoly with her friends, is winning much to the dismay of my very competitive husband, who argues every single point and insists on checking every single payment he has to make.

Again, I get out of Monopoly jail, but my luck does not improve. I have to mortgage my properties because I can no longer pay rent every time I land on any of their properties.

Can a game get any more depressing than this? It’s not enough that I am under lockdown; I have to go broke and land in jail for amusement too. I, the cook, who still has to prepare dinner in the real world.

Things are going to get real in a little while (cue evil laughter)…😈

DoH update: As of 4 p.m. of April 26, 2020, the Philippines has reported 7,579 confirmed corona virus cases, including 862 recoveries and 501 deaths.

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.