THE photo on Page 2 of your paper today (March 11, 2020) displays the fact that misinformation about Covid-19 continues to spread. It shows a mother adjusting a mask on her schoolgirl daughter (whom we’ll name Anna) before she heads for school.
Imagine this scenario: Anna boards a jeepney to school, holding on to the railing as she enters the vehicle. She’ll be squeezed in among other riders and may be protected from those who cough and sneeze beside her. But her hands will have touched the jeepney’s railing and the driver’s hand holding dirty bills and coins, and when she gets to school she’ll be touching other surfaces where viruses may be.
Unless she washes her hands thoroughly before she takes to her seat in class, she’ll be unprotected from any virus. And if she touches her face, rubs her eyes and eats her lunch, she’ll be unprotected. When she goes to the toilet and afterwards doesn’t wash her hands properly with soap (the school may not supply soap), she may well become infected with the virus.
If her family cannot afford to buy a hand disinfectant for Anna, and if their home doesn’t have a constant water supply, they are all candidates for the plague which continues to spread worldwide and now in this country, with the suspected case of an OFW who arrived from Japan and is now in Tudela (according to the SunStar report).
Unless Pinoys are properly educated on how to protect themselves from Covid-19, we will have more casualties in this scary war. (by Tess Manzano)