COVID-19 has taken us all by storm. This infectious disease caused by a severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus was first identified in December 2019 in Wuhan, the capital of China’s Hubei province. It has since spread like wildfire on a global scale plunging the whole world into an unprecedented nightmare. The only problem is, this isn’t a bad dream. We might as well snap out and wake up to our new norm.
Unfortunately, this is for real! The spread of this Corona virus has resulted in a global pandemic that has triggered government-imposed lockdowns worldwide, requiring emergency protocols (such as putting on of face masks in public, social distancing and the prohibition of mass gatherings). Air, sea, and land travels have all been restricted (or suspended), schools temporary closed, office and business establishments placed on skeletal work-force, all in order to “flatten the curve” of COVID-19 casualties.
Here in the Philippines, the president has declared a Luzon-wide ECQ (enhanced community quarantine) from mid-March to the end of April, subject to daily re-evaluation.