DR. Rabindra Abeyasinghe, World Health Organization (WHO) representative
to the Philippines, last week, called on all communities "to protect the elderly who are the most vulnerable to the Covid-19 virus."
Dr. Abeyasinghe's call was based on data from China, along with emerging research from Italy, the second most affected country in the world, showing that Covid-19 is dangerous and deadly to older people, particularly for those with heart, lung, and immunological conditions.
Thus far, China has implemented draconian measures to contain the Covid-19 virus and cooperated with all other nations to help them contain the virus.
Italy has not seriously taken China's experience in controlling the disease. The government's action was rather too late.
In Italy, the hospitals and medical workers were soon overwhelmed with Covid-19 medical cases, they prioritized whom to serve and left the elderly on their own to survive or die.
I did not witness this on-going medical crisis personally. I read it from the testimony of a medical worker warning his family and friends in Rome, and all over Italy to work together and secure the vulnerable population (the elderly and the young) from the virus before it is too late. Covid-19 is spread faster by infecting the vulnerable population first, then it creates panic and related irrational action that multiplies the virus from individuals to communities. Covid-19 is still savaging the Italian population.
Dr. Abeyasinghe's plea touched a memory cord revealing a time when my great-grandmother had me lie down on her bed. I remember going home that day squirming with pain in my stomach sweating profusely. She had me dried with a fresh cloth, massaged my stomach and limbs with oil that sent me to blissful sleep. I woke up and saw her come to me. Her touch on my face was warm and comfortable. The flesh of her hands was soft with my six-year-old fingers.
Before or after dinner, I sought to sit beside her at the family fire. On many occasions, I slept on her lap when we visited neighbors or relatives. Going to the farm, her gnarled toes held fast on slippery grounds and I held onto the wrinkled and loose sagging flesh of her arms. In these harsh mountains, her voice and the touch of her hands comforted, calmed, and healed.
The memories of this relationship with sagging flesh are stored in the mind and resurrected several times over in a man's life. Its message of its sacrifice has kept me sane and helped shape my perception of the reality of a family and how I imagine healthy communities.
The Covid-19 virus has and continues to show us the characteristics of modern man. We shout and yell at the President for doing his job. That will not make the virus go away. We curse the country origin of the virus. So many viruses came out from anywhere in the world, and many lie dormant under our feet or in our bodies. We spin out conspiracy theories, post hateful statements, and information that will not help people cope well with their problems. We hoard toilet paper, alcohol, sanitizers, and food supplies like our world is going to end. All of these will not save you. These are activities that waste time better spent saving your life and others.
Be calm, do not add to the noise. That means that we must listen, keeping up to date with the latest advice from the government and our health authorities and actually following it. The DOH has said it several times along with the Cabinet. The WHO said it too. Let me repeat these again here: Wash hands often, cover your nose when you sneeze, avoid large public gatherings, cancel unnecessary travel and work meetings.
For a long time, the Cordillera has remained Covid-19 free. It is nowhere because some of us are plain stupid. Nobody is exempted from this disease. Don't do things that benefit you, at the expense of others. If you come from a place exposed to Covid-19, quarantine yourself first. Stay at home, why rush to the festivals and community gatherings. If you infect a place, do not go to another place for healing. Stay at home. Do your part.
We are in a state of war against Covid-19. The goal now is to prevent the spread of the virus further. We can do it with a heart and a conscience. As warriors, we must secure first the vulnerable members of society, as our communities use to do. Help others in more precarious situations. When they fall, the stronger ones will soon weaken and follow.
We can do our part to slow the virus and help our health authorities handle the cases of virus-infection. Our doctors, nurses, medical technologists, and paramedics must not be unnecessarily overloaded. We allow them to have access to those who needed their help the most. Even in our small ways, we can help a lot. These include social distancing like staying away from people outside of your family. Avoid social events and public gatherings, work from home if possible. Cancel or postpone events that gather crowds of people in one place.
This is the time where the character of individuals and communities are put to the test -- characters that love people, their lives and wellbeing.
You may be following some religious, philosophical and political codes of conduct and ethics. It matters not who you are. The Covid-19 virus cannot make a distinction and exemption who to infect and kill except that the elderly, sick and kids are most vulnerable to it.
Those who practice philosophies, politics, science and professions suited to the human race are well situated now to do their part and inspire. Let us go to work and war. Do your part, one with the others, not bossing around, politicking, or a "know-it-all" critique.