A chink in one’s armor
It has been four months since we started our fight against the dreaded COVID-19 disease and what we got is a damaged economy with cases still on the rise. The government heeded to the expert advice of epidemiologists, medical practitioners, and other scientists, and imposed a hard lockdown that shattered businesses and caused widespread hunger among Filipinos. Despite the tribulations we have endured due to very stringent restrictions on our ways of life, the proverbial flattening of the curve is not yet in sight.
Because the harm caused by the draconian measures seems already unbearable to ordinary Filipinos, the government is left with no choice but to ease quarantine restrictions to breathe a life to a dying economy. The government shifted its gears and recalibrated its strategy by expressing preference to granular lockdowns instead of reverting to ECQs.
The Province of Bohol has shown a good record during the first few months of the pandemic because the provincial government closed all the entry points to our island province and decisively refused entry of foreigners and fellow Boholanos who were stranded outside. But the record of being a COVID-free province was short-lived. COVID cases here are now rising. It is quite ironic now that many of our brethren are acting like there is no more risk of contracting the disease even if it is now within our midst.
Recent studies have shown that stopping the spread of the novel coronavirus could be as easy as washing your hands regularly, wearing a mask, and keeping your distance from others.These simple hygiene practices are backed by solid scientific studies and these may be the only effective ammunitions against the disease. One study concluded that if more than half of people practiced these three simple behaviors, we could prevent large epidemics such as COVID-19.
In waging war against our enemy, the most difficult problem to deal with is human behavior. We tend to underestimate the risk and indulge in actions ranging from recklessness to downright stupid. Unless the virus starts to devour our mortal bodies, the virus seems to be a figment of one’s imagination only. We may have the most effective vaccine against the disease or the most potent drug that heals in our arsenal against the pandemic, lack of self-discipline and recklessness that wreak havoc to people who may be cluelessly exposed to the virus remains to be a chink in one’s armor.