I CAN'T understand why our officials and people may have accepted that during the heat of election season, there is also a continuing rise in the number of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases. Is this the kind of situation they propose that people should live under the threats of Covid-19?
To see the actual view of situations, we need to report the number of cases every day that have gone to more than a hundred. Along with that, due to the rising number, there are no hospital beds available or no hospital is willing to accept patients due to Covid-19 or other illnesses. In addition, a mounting number of deaths out of Covid-19 and other illnesses because they could not have access to medical interventions.
The Department of Health (DOH) data in the Western Visayas showed that Bacolod City and Negros Occidental topped the number of new cases. Yet we have not heard from our authorities how they could lower the figures and the similar number of deaths.
We can see that what’s consistent is the number of new cases that kept on increasing exponentially. So far, there is no basis to say that the number of deaths could likewise increase exponentially. I hope we should not look at that possibility because while we cannot cope with this trend in the number of deaths, how much more when it would go with how transmission is taken like the Delta variant.
Talking about new cases, on October 1, the province had 393 cases while Bacolod logged 229, which is the highest so far for the past three weeks. On October 3, the province recorded 230 new cases with 136 for its capital city. The total number of deaths as of October 3, 2021 is 553 for the province and 478 for Bacolod.
What is something to note is that Bacolod and the province are having a small community. Proximity among its people is small so that should death be reported about somebody, it will become news in the community.
The recent Covid-19 deaths and those of other illnesses have gone to an alert. But I can’t understand how our leaders and authorities would look at these figures. Is this simply a callous, fatigue out of pandemic or a manifestation of the shallowness of our leader’s concern into the plight of the people they are supposed to serve?
Another possibility is that while we are into the filing week of candidacies for the 2022 elections, our officials are still busy with their work to finalize their lineup.
Maybe those who are at the forefront of this fight for survival against Covid-19 are also throwing their luck to get the people’s mandate.
We hope the coronavirus will not take this situation as the right venue to infect more people and victimize those who were not vaccinated and with comorbidities. But Covid-19 seemed to have no consideration no matter how you look or whatever social standing you have.
I construed that with how the figures are showing, it is time that people should not depend on the government or any authorities. The only best action, for now, is to consider that you need to fight for your survival. Try to imagine when incidentally you will be infected with Covid-19, where will you go? Is this still not enough basis to declare we are helpless?
With the magnitude of the problem our leaders and government are facing, we seem to simply surrender the right of the people to live and depend on authority that is supposedly endowed with the authority to protect them and their interests.
As Dr. Jay Estrellas of Carlos Hilado Memorial State College said, “we can’t get something they don’t have."
The best theme, for now, is to run for yourself and your family.