Holidays and health protocols

By Ma. Therese Taghap

 

(The author is a Communication and Media Studies student from the University of the Philippines Visayas)

 

As I busied myself in doing school tasks and activities earlier this morning, something suddenly crossed my mind. I immediately gawked at my calendar and later breathed a sigh. It is twenty days before Christmas Day.

We Filipinos often celebrate our holidays by being together with our friends and families, attending endless parties in barangays and some large gatherings, going to amusement parks, and even traveling far. However, these will all be possible if only the COVID-19 pandemic did not hit us.

As the holiday season nearly approaches, the Department of Health (DOH) released its Reiteration of the Minimum Public Health Standards for COVID-19 Mitigation. This health standard provides guidance on how to observe minimum public health standards during the holidays and ensure the health and safety of everyone participating in celebrations and activities.

According to DOH, three risk factors pose a high risk of COVID-19 transmission: exploring congested areas, close-contact settings, and confined places. And as these factors overlap, the threat of the virus is even higher.

Health Undersecretary and Spokesperson Maria Rosario Singh-Vergeire says that included in these factors are attending large family, social, or religious gatherings, in-person shopping in malls and bazaars, and indoor gathering of a large group of people that involves singing, shouting, and dancing.

Usually, my family has to travel kilometers away only to become complete when celebrating Christmas and New Year’s Eve. But with all these health standards and protocols that surround us, we might not be able to have a full table at Noche Buena this year. Still, there are ways to celebrate without risking our health.

Instead of going to malls to buy gifts, I intend to shop online. Aside from hassle-free, there are huge discounts from different online shops this December 12—which, of course, makes me feel giddy. And for Simbang gabi, our families can instead attend to it via watching it online while sitting on a couch at home together. Although we are not complete, we are at least safe.

As we are waiting for vaccine procurements and a completely cured country, we must do our best in observing these imposed health protocols. Remember that there are better ways to celebrate holidays safely. Besides, it’s better not having a full table this Noche Buena and Media Noche than having an empty chair in the next years to come.