Overcoming the COVID-19 scare

By Herbert Vego

 

THIS writer has gone around the malls of Iloilo City in the past five days, coming to the conclusion that business is leaping back to life, what with more people patronizing stores and restaurants while still observing the basic World Health Organization (WHO) protocols — eye shielding, face masking and social distancing – aimed at preventing the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19)

To quote a Facebook post by restaurateur/chef Pauline Gorriceta Banusing, “I bend, I fall, I slip but I do not break. I am not destined to a fate that I cannot control.”

She has risen to the challenge posed by Mayor Jerry P. Treñas: “Level up”.

Sad to say, not all entrepreneurs could be so lucky to have repeatedly closed, opened, closed and re-opened in accordance with “community quarantines” or lockdowns imposed by the national government.

While I was writing this yesterday, the WHO “worldometer” had recorded a total of 62,358,546 COVID cases worldwide, of which 43,046,731 had recovered and 1,455,319had died. Having survived, the patients unaccounted for are hopefully on the road to recovery.

Why magnify the 1.5 million COVID deaths when it looks “microscopic” when juxtaposed with the world population of 7.8 billion? It disproves the notion that COVID-19 is incurable (there being no approved medicine against it) and convinces us that a victim’s strong immune system could ward off coronavirus.

The 1.5 million people who have died of COVID so far pale in comparison to the 53,591,563 who died of other causes in 2019.

Then and now, more than 100,000 people die worldwide daily.

Whereas, more than 200,000 babies are born daily.

The Philippines as of yesterday had scored a total 427,797 COVID cases in nine months, of which 388,062 had recovered and 8,333 had died.

That seems disturbing until we consider that our population is approaching 110 million, and the records at the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) show more or less 1,500 Filipinos dying daily.

A little research makes the COVID pandemic “nothing” when compared to the Asian Flu pandemic in 1918 which infected an estimated 500 million people worldwide, killing a tenth or 50 million of them.

No matter, the daily media reports on added-up COVID numbers have fueled anxiety, stress and depression among the weak-hearted and the less fortunate. These emotions could trigger deadly diseases, too.

Indeed, what if the WHO protocols have done the world more harm than good?

I personally believe that safety protocols – basically social distancing, face-masking and hand-washing — could have been implemented without closing down offices, stores, restaurants and public transportation.

What are such protocols for if they could not prevent the spread of the respiratory virus which contaminates through droplets generated when an infected person coughs, sneezes, or discharges saliva and nasal mucus?

We are tempted to ask: Could we have escaped contamination had President Rodrigo Duterte listened to “concerned citizens” who, in mid-January 2020, asked him to restrict entry of Chinese citizens because of the onset of a “mysterious disease” in Wuhan City, China?

They raised the alarm because, on January 13, the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) of Thailand reported its first “imported” case from Wuhan — a 61-year-old Chinese woman complaining of fever with chills, sore throat and headache.

The first COVID-19 case in the Philippines, on the other hand, also involved a Wuhan tourist — a 38-year-old Chinese woman who entered San Lazaro Hospital in Manila on January 30, 2020.

Surprisingly, it was only on March 12 that Duterte announced on TV his intention to “immediately” impose the WHO protocols and lockdowns.

By the way, for banning international flights early enough upon detection of its first COVID case (that a 61-year-old woman from Wuhan), Thailand has succeeded in flooring coronavirus. Despite its capital city of Bangkok being the site of congested mass actions calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, Thailand has recorded only 3,966 total COVID-19 cases, of which only 60 have died.

Going back to the question of whether the belated government-imposed lockdowns have done wore harm than good, let us review the October 13, 2020 joint statement by the WHO, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Labor Organization (ILO) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFA0) lamenting the economic and social disruption caused by the pandemic.

Excerpts of the statement said, “Tens of millions of people are at risk of falling into extreme poverty, while the number of undernourished people, currently estimated at nearly 690 million, could increase by up to 132 million by the end of the year. Without the means to earn an income during lockdowns, many are unable to feed themselves and their families. For most, no income means no food, or, at best, less food and less nutritious food.”

And so we can’t blame the “pessimists” for doubting media hype on vaccination as “the solution” since it would benefit the pharmaceutical companies that stand to gain billions of dollars in profit.

No wonder American billionaire Bill Gates was reported to have “invested US $70 million to global efforts to develop and distribute safe, affordable, and timely vaccines.”

President Duterte has arranged for P73.2 billion worth of loans to buy COVID-19 vaccines for at least 60 million Filipinos. It remains to be seen whether healthy Filipinos would agree to be vaccinated for fear of “high risk of harmful reactions”.

If the old anti-flu and anti-pneumonia vaccines have failed to permanently immunize their receivers, how could a new anti-COVID vaccine be more effective?

 

-oOo-

 

ANOTHER POWER RESELLER FALLS

THE “Jumper Mo, Noche Buena Ko” campaign of MORE Power is definitely gaining momentum with the apprehension of a power pilferer illegally reselling electricity in Iloilo City.

We can only feel sorry for Dionisio Oton, who has been identified as the source of “jumpers” serving his “clients” – a vehicular repair shop, a videoke bar, an ukay ukay retailer and a smoke-emission testing center.

The owners of the said establishments and a residential user have identified Oton as the reseller to whom they pay a fee amounting to P15 per kilowatt-hour.

MORE Power technicians have dismantled their wires and meters to be used as evidence against the suspect for violation of the anti-power pilferage law (Republic Act No. 7832), punishable by six or more years of imprisonment.

The confidential whistleblower received a cash reward of P3,000 from MORE Power’s President Roel Z. Castro in line with the company’s “Jumper Mo, Noche Buena Ko” Christmas promo.