WELL, maybe residents of Cebu City will finally take the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) seriously.
I’m pretty sure they’d gotten complacent when the Department of Health-Central Visayas (DOH 7) didn’t report any new cases before and during Holy Week.
Maybe they thought their prayers had been answered and the Sto. Niño had spared the whole province from the ravages of the pandemic.
Unfortunately, this virus has no religion. It’s not even alive. So it doesn’t distinguish between a Catholic and a Protestant or a Muslim and a Buddhist, etc.
It also doesn’t have any political affiliation. So it can’t tell the difference between a die-hard supporter of former Cebu City mayor Tomas Osmeña and the many advisers who have current Mayor Edgardo Labella’s ear, or so I heard.
As of Friday, April 17, Cebu City logged a total number of 161 infected persons, 82 of whom came from Sitio Zapatera in Barangay Luz.
The City Health Department (CHD) earlier said it had stopped conducting mass testing in the neighborhood because it considered the whole area to be infected.
Labella, however, ordered massive tests to be conducted in the whole barangay, which is one of the most densely populated areas in the city with a population of around 30,000.
Some 9,000 people call Zapatera, the largest of 15 sitios in the barangay, home.
Considering that the virus is known to spread very quickly once introduced into a population, the number of infected persons in the area is sure to rise exponentially in the next few days. It’s no longer a matter of “if” but “when.”
So let me just get this out in the open.
People, we’re all in this together. Whether you like it or not. Rich or poor, young or old, the virus seriously doesn’t give a hoot.
Now, if you want the government to lift the enhanced community quarantine so you can all pick up the pieces of what’s left of your so-called normal life, then you better get with the program.
I mean, what are you all waiting for? Tanks to roll down the streets with armed soldiers barking commands for you to obey the stay-at-home order?
Mind you, our soldiers are not immune to the disease. So they can be and will be infected if exposed to the virus. In other words, the whole community will be responsible if they and the rest of our frontliners get sick because some smart aleck think following orders that are for their own safety is beneath them.
With that said, authorities also need to understand that many people who are out on the streets are there because they have no choice.
Many city residents do not own cars or motorcycles. So they’ve been forced to walk long distances to make essential errands like buying food or medicines.
Remember, only one member of each household can go outside. It’s no wonder some people have to make daily trips to the market. After all, a person can only carry so much. They can’t well buy a week’s worth of groceries or meat and vegetables and expect them to haul these all by themselves.
Ideally in a lockdown, the government delivers the goods to everyone’s doorstep. But who am I kidding? Barangay Sambag 1 hasn’t even distributed a single canned good.