Briones: Room for optimism

Briones: Room for optimism

Is the Cebu City Government turning the tide in the war against the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic?

I shouldn’t single out Cebu City, considering that it has not been alone in trying to fend off the enemy since the health crisis began in March.

But my, what a difference five months make.

I remember when the city was publicly shamed and dubbed the epicenter of the disease in the country. Its residents were described as “hardheaded” and blamed for the resurgence of Covid-19 cases.

If that wasn’t enough humiliation, the National Government had to send more than a hundred members of the Special Action Force, an elite unit of the Philippine National Police, to help local authorities keep the people in line.

In hindsight, it was the bitter pill that the city and its residents had to swallow so the situation would not get out of hand.

So imagine how excited I was by the recent announcement of the city’s Emergency Operation Center (EOC) that more than half of the 80 barangays in Cebu City reported zero transmission in the past 14 days.

Of course, I had my fingers crossed and had knocked on wood.

The problem with having an invisible enemy is you never know when it may hit you and knock you down. That’s why everyone should heed the call of Mayor Edgardo Labella and City Councilor Joel Garganera, deputy chief implementer of the EOC, to remain vigilant against Covid-19.

The public should never let its guard down.

Many things can still happen between now and Christmas, which is 10 days away.

That’s why the EOC didn’t release the names of the 58 barangays that do not have active Covid-19 cases. It didn’t want the residents to be complacent.

By the way, a community that has zero transmission doesn’t mean Sars-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, has gone away. It means the people who got swabbed just tested negative.

Did I get that right?

Anyway, Garganera seems to have painted a rosy picture of where the city stands in the ongoing battle against Covid-19. Which is good. However, it would have been much nicer if he mentioned when the City Government would start vaccinating its people. And by people, I don’t mean those who work at City Hall, but the number of people needed to achieve herd immunity.

Because that is the end goal, right?

If the disease continues to lurk in our midst, Cebu City will never be able to declare a victory against Covid-19.

But hey, the city has been through worse and yet it has always survived. It has even managed to thrive despite the odds stacked against it. So perhaps there is reason to be a tad optimistic.

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