By Mark Lesther Conog
On March 15, 2020, I arrived at the Mactan Cebu International Airport from a weeklong visit with my family in Mindanao. On the same day, the Cebu City Mayor's office announced a city-wide lockdown will be implemented at 12 a.m. on March 16, 2020.
I was not surprised by the announcement due to the number of coronavirus infections the city recorded at that time. I was thinking of going back to Mindanao, but I couldn't lose my job in the middle of a pandemic.
I decided to stay and left the airport to my rented place in Cebu City. I immediately informed my grandmother about the situation in Cebu and the actions taken by the government.
Later on that day, I received a message from my company informing me that the supposed training scheduled on March 18 will be moved to next month.
I immediately thought of what will I be eating in the next days. I couldn't imagine myself living away with my family in the middle of uncertainty. Thanks to my mom, who gave me money for food and rental for my apartment.
This isn't the life that I am wished for. I thought of being more productive and engaged, not this, isolating myself from the crowd. I'm getting anxious and trying to fight back from anxiety attacks that this pandemic has caused. Every single day, I keep on praying that this must come to an end.
I even celebrated my birthday away from home. This is heartbreaking!
From April to June, Cebu City declared a total lockdown, no transportation, no restaurants, only the supermarkets are open for the public's necessities, the city became a ghost town as cases of infections continue to rise by the thousands.
I was overthinking getting infected with the virus. No days and nights I didn't shed a single tear. I am thinking of what will happen to my family if I will not stay longer in this world. I have dreams for them. There's nothing I can think of, only prayers that this, soon, will pass.
I hope that this pandemic is just a dream, but it isn't. The best way to do this now is to live under the new normal, where people know their distance, wearing facemasks, and isolating if you feel not well to avoid spreading the virus.
We've learned so much with this pandemic, that we need to save our money and our necessities for the rainy days.