Am presently in the hospital for COVID, not as a patient though. Being a part of one of the teams of consultants that rotate every couple of weeks to see inpatients (and I guess because I am a member of the staff anyway), I have the opportunity to have some quiet time here in the office (or "faculty room" as I would prefer to call it).
It is now more than a month since the lockdown here in the Philippines. Tonight we expect the chief executive to make an announcement regarding the plan going forward.. Either there will be an extension or relaxation of lockdown measures currently in place. More draconian measures can also be expected for those areas whose citizens have been belligerently non-compliant, given the nature of this machismo-fueled administration.
Over the past weeks, we have seen how this virus turned the world upside down for everyone all across the globe. Schools and malls closed. Places of worship shuttered. Hospitals filled to the brim. It seems all too crazy to be real.. However, it is, and there is nothing to do but to survive and adapt to a new reality that would emerge once we get this pandemic under control, if ever..
A lot has already been said by experts about how to manage this going forward, so I will just limit this post to a number of opinions and observations I have formulated in the past days:
- The virus, despite being respiratory in transmission, seems to cause a lot more systemic damage than originally thought. At the outset of the pandemic when people were scrambling to understand the disease, everyone was focused on the respiratory side of things. Evidence is now presently emerging that the main problems encountered seems to be cardiovascular in nature, and treatments are adjusting according.
- What the hell is happening in the US? Its such a long fall from grace, from being seen as the protector of the free world to the current laughing stock, all because they decided to elect a selfish bully into office.
- What the hell is happening in the US? Its such a long fall from grace, from being seen as the protector of the free world to the current laughing stock, all because they decided to elect a selfish bully into office.
- China is the main culprit here. and they can't bullshit their way out of this. Evidence (which is being suppressed as we speak, because China) is emerging that the virus originated from one of the biolabs there in Wuhan, probably due to poor safety standards (because China?)? Therefore, I shall always be calling this virus as the China Virus, to give credit where it is due. They manufactured it after all. I once joked that that the only thing real that comes out of China are viruses. The communist government deserves the big part of the blame. It actively suppresses information that makes it look bad, brainwashed its people that China can do no wrong (even though it does a lot of wrong, because China), and has deprived the people of moral standards and basic decency through the suppression of religion (because communism). Having a religion, or at least a belief in a higher power curtails the basic human tendencies to be selfish and uncaring towards others (sadly, this reality holds true even in nations with religion though, but the apathy tends to be more systemic if you ban religion altogether).
- It will be a very long time before I trust anything that comes out of China ever again, however the leadership in this country appears to give them a backchannel entry because they are compromised already, either as spies, moles, or just plain greed. Never underestimate the the greed of the power-hungry..
This has been just one long rant, and rightfully so. I don't think there is anything good to talk about anyway..
